£670 a bottle !

French drinks group Pernod Ricard has announced plans to launch the world's most expensive bottle of champagne.

To be sold under the Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque name, it will retail in wine shops for 1,000 euros ($1,276; £670) for a standard-sized bottle.

Deep-pocketed wine lovers can already spend more than £500 a bottle on such champagnes as Louis Roederer Crystal Rose and Krug Clos de Mesnil. It is not yet known when or where Pernod will launch the new champagne.

"We won't do many cases and won't be offering it in France," said Pernod chairman Patrick Ricard.

Pernod, which is also launching a new brandy costing £130 a bottle, is bringing out the new super-expensive products as a means to take its brands upmarket.

"It is a fact that consumers all over the world want to identify with brands that represent themselves and this has to be brands with quality which are exclusive," said managing director Pierre Pringuet. It's the same for fashion, cars... and spirits."

Existing Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque wines are well-known for being some of the most competitively priced so-called prestige champagnes.

They are also renowned for having flowers painted onto the bottles.