ONE OF FRANCE’S finest champagnes Perrier Jouet can now be enjoyed in Bangkok thanks to a partnership with lebua Hotels & Resorts in introducing Flute a Perrier Jouet, an al fresco champagne bar. Suspended 250 metres up in the air, the bar is understandably being billed as the world’s loftiest and offers a magnificent view over the Thai capital’s cityscape.

Established in 1811 in the Epernay region of Champagne, Perrier Jouet is one of the best-selling brands in the world.

The recent launch showcased the delicate tastes of the bubbly paired with chef Ryuki Kawasaki of Mezzaluna The Dome’s fine cuisine.

The Champagne tasting dinner commenced with the house’s signature Belle Epoque Grand Brut, which is considered one of the most accomplished examples of the Perrier Jouet style. It was paired with langoustine ceviche, pomme souffle, osetra caviar, fried oyster with kataifi pastry, iberico ham and smoked salmon mousse and lemon macaron.

The Belle Epoque’s light and silky taste was also a perfect match for the crispy salmon, basil, ikura salmon caviar, Wagyu beef tartar and croque madame, cheese and quail egg while the Blason Rose added pizazz to the savoury and herbaceous smoked duck, beetroot and raspberry meringue, foie gras terrine, passion fruit puree and dark chocolate.

Cool jazz added to the ambience of the sky-high surroundings, which are also home to the art nouveau-inspired Enchanting Tree designed by Tord Boontje. Adorned with champagne glasses, this unique golden tree, signifying the delicately sweet taste of Perrier Jouet, has been travelling throughout the globe. Previously displayed at the Art Basel in Miami, one of the leading galleries in America, Enchanted Tree is in Bangkok until the end of March.

Perrier Jouet is a champagne house that has been a part of the French culture for more than two centuries. It is also the first champagne brand in the world to offer personalised bottles. With its fine quality and meticulous preparations, from growing grapes up until the bottling process, the mastery has been passed on through different generations.

Placed amongst the top 10 best selling champagnes in the world in 2012, its outstanding quality and lavishness have also contributed to a place in the Colbert Committee in 2007.

Apart from its attentiveness in quality, the artistic penchant of Perrier Jouet has also been the inspiration in creating the brand’s unique character. Emile Galle, an important pioneer of Art Nouveau who emphasised the beauty of nature, designed the champagne bottle with deep-sea flowers, making it the symbol of the brand today. The natural hues of flowers suggest the delicate tastes and scent of the luxurious champagne that fills every bottle of Perrier Jouet.

Flute a Perrier Jouet bar is at The Dome at lebua on Silom Road. It is open everyday from 6pm till 1am.

Call (02) 624 9555.

THE TREND IN Bangkok might be for smaller, hidden-away venues at which to chill but the super-spacious club Chi Ultralounge, launched recently on Sukhumvit Soi 13, is certain to draw night owls with its generous space, terrific food and drinks galore.

Rising from the ashes of Bed Supperclub, which shut up shop in 2013, the Ultralounge’s designers have transformed the spaceship-like white cylinder structure and given it a dark, mysterious and decadent ambience to complement what they calling “funk shui”.

Professing to be the pioneer of “Asian lounge culture” in the city, the club summons up fantasies of eerily cool Yakuza haunts or beautifully lit archaic casinos in Macao. Decadent gold leaf designs and ancient Chinese antique embellishments glow under the watchful eye of the Imperial Dragon, a symbol of protection, affluence and power.

As Thailand’s first world-class Diageo Club, guests can enjoy an exciting array of cocktails concocted by the talents of in-house mixologists selected by nightclub proprietor, Daryl Scott, a veteran of the clubbing circuit with dozens of venue designs and launches to his credit.

Scott has placed huge emphasis on safety, convenience and swift service. The venue now features six fire escapes and an advanced sprinkler system that covers the walls and ceilings of every part of the lounge. There are also electronic bottle service systems that enable staff to deliver a superbly tailored guest experience along with a VIP concierge.

The finishing touch to the gallery in the club area is a stunning seven-metre painting commissioned exclusively for Chi Ultralounge by Dutch artist Peter Klashorst.

Scott’s vision for Chi centres on “funk shui”, the fun and feisty volley of cohesive yet eclectic elements that walk patrons through heavy swing doors, on interconnected mezzanine gantries, through private VIP bars and wow them with insane audio and a domed ceiling video display.

“Chi Ultralounge features an uber-cool Asian motif with a one-off metallic design while the Zen cultural styling of the lounge gives it an authentic feng shui vibe.

“The quirky Chinese dragon design concept, incredible 3D video projections onto the domed ceiling, gold leaf and Zen-inspired DJ booth lend to an international ambience for the iconic club design space that was once the famed Bed Supperclub,” Scott says.

The Chi Ultra Dining Experience launches this month with the introduction of “Manna”, a culinary mash-up designed by the renowned Blue Elephant restaurant group and fronted by New York executive chef Tony Bish.

Guests can dine in the belly of the imperial dragon, before the clubbing really begins from 10.30pm until very, very late.

Chi Ultralounge is on Sukhumvit Soi 13, close to Asoke BTS and Sukhumvit MRT. It is open daily from7pm till 2am.

Visit http://www.ChiUltralounge.com and http://www.Facebook.com /ChiUltralounge.

SO MANY EDM festivals and other big music events are planned for the year ahead that it’s hard to believe electronic dance music only just caught on in Thailand a few years ago.

We’ve had a slew of big-name foreign DJs working the dance floors in clubs all around the country, and Bangkok has hosted quite a few international “party brands”, such as Gravity from Britain, the Miami-based Ultra Music Festival and the Netherlands-originated Sensation.

Last year’s EDM calendar had important events and festivals almost every month, on top of appearances in the clubs by A-list DJs, and 2016 looks like it’s going to be every bit as busy, if not more so.

The year kicks off with a wallop next Saturday with “Arcadia – The Bangkok Takeover”, the second edition of Gravity Thailand, this time being held in Lumpini Square (just pile out of the Lumpini subway station), which is certainly far more accessible than Minburi, host to the previous gathering.

Gravity’s bringing in a fire-breathing, award-winning production created by Arcadia Spectacular, complete with a 360-degree “sound field” – which means there’ll be no escape from the music that must make you move. And just in case the music does have any trouble finding you, there’ll be three times more lasers than last time slashing through the crowd.

DJs Kaskade, Zomboy, Bl3nd, Must Die and DVBBS will be flying in – to be joined by a raft of homegrown talent – for the rave-up right in the heart of Bangkok, a mere stumble from the MRT line and also with ample parking space if you’re driving.

On February 20 it’s the turn of the Maya Festival to have its second edition, this time taking place on bigger turf in Pattaya.

Last year’s event can only be described as unforgettable, the stage itself mesmerising thanks to thousands of dancing LED lights and 20-metre-tall naga motifs on both sides, also illuminated so they looked like they were slithering in time to the beats pumped out by globally renowned DJs.

EDM giants including Tiesto and Dash Berlin are headlining the 2016 festival, which is entirely Thai-owned. They’ll perform on one stage alongside Don Diablo, AN21, D-Block & S-te-Fan and Voicetone, while a second “live stage” will have top Thai acts like Thaitanium, Potato, Da Endorphine, Big Ass, 25 Hour and Cocktail.

With April begins the Thai New Year, its birth eased by a great deal of cooling, splashing water, and the second S2O Songkran Music Festival is taking shape for April 13 and 14 at the same venue as last year – the S2O Factory near RCA.

The same purpose-built “waterproof” venue will reopen ready for two very wet, extremely fun days and nights of dance-floor gymnastics. The full line-up of participating acts has yet to be announced but, judging from the huge success of the inaugural event last year – when big names like Deadmau5, Graham Gold, Sydney Samson and Afrojack were on the bill – this year should be equally jaw-dropping, and maybe even better!

Just as the S2O squirt-fest is wrapping up, gCircuit will be launching into its 10th edition of SongKran 10, which runs from April 14 to 17. No rush for your dancing shoes for this moist marathon, because it begins with the Glam Gala, a posh banquet raising funds for the Thai Aids Society and the Poz Home Centre Foundation. It’s being held at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok and tickets cost Bt5,000. Once the dishes are cleared, though, grab the comfy slippers, because DJ Leomeo will be cranking the tunes for the after-party.

And then it’s all dancing, all the time, with the “Olympus”, “Dynasty” and “Prism” parties arranged for consecutive nights at Central World’s GMM Live House. Leomeo will be around again, joined by DJs Spectrum K, Alyson Calagna, Alex Costa, Twisted Dee, Able, Oscar Velazquez and Paulo.

Afternoons will not be wasted. The gCircuit crew is hosting more of its notorious pool parties at the Double Tree by Hilton on Sukhumvit Soi 26. Be warned – tickets for these are selling fast.

There’s a lot of rumbling going on about other events in the pipeline, for which negotiations are continuing, so dates, locations and entertainment rosters are still up in the air.

What we do know so far is that the Together Festival will be happening in May and a “Road to Ultra: Thailand” event in June. You can also count on attending more light-and-sound extravaganzas like the second Warp Music Festival, likely in October, and the third Waterzonic in November.

And in December another Thai-owned bash, the pioneering 808 Festival, is expected to return for its sixth edition. Put together by Retox Sessions, that festival came to life in 2012 at Bitec in Bang Na and featured monster acts like LMFAO and Afrojack. It’s since become one of Bangkok’s longest-running EDM gigs.

A lot of local folks have their white outfits already picked out for the next White Party, a lavish affair that graced Bangkok in 2012 and 2014, but – apart from Moscow and Hyderabad – the full destination list has not yet been unveiled for this year. You might want to check the price of flights to Russia and India just in case.