On the Circuit: Letter From Cannes

So, we decided to entrust a Little Birdy to be our on the scene eyes and ears at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Big mistake. We wound up not hearing from them for days, until finally we heard from them this afternoon. So Little Birdy, what do you have to say for yourself?

So, I just got back from the Jade Jagger Belvedere Dagger Party. It was a lot better than it sounds. Jade Jagger, P. Diddy, Ed Norton, Goldie Hawn, Kelly Brook, Billy Zane, Mike Tyson, Vikram Chatwal and me partying at club VIP. Belvedere all over the place. It was raining but the turnout was still pretty incredible. One of the production people told me over 2000 showed up. Funniest part was Diddy (what is he doing in Cannes?) showing up with an entourage of 30 people, scooping up as many Belvedere drinks that he could get his hands on. Isn't he the face of Ciroc? Good thing they pay him all that money. Anyway, Marc Ronson was the DJ, music was awesome, and this whole week has been awesome. Sorry to not check in sooner but I am too busy living the life.

You know what Birdy? If we paid you any money we would have to fire you. But we don't so we love you. Stay dry and try to check in more often.

On the Circuit: Downtown Meets Uptown

Belvedere kicked of their Downtown Meets Uptown party series last night at the new Rose Club at the Plaza Hotel. DBTH hasn't been that far uptown since... we'll we don't know when, but it was a pretty fancy soiree and we are still nursing our nosebleed. It was a mix of tuxedoed uptown society types, mixed with a handful of downtown hipsters. This was more than an event - this was a pah tay! The Belvedere and rose champagne were flowing (and mixed vodka drinks served in cute mini-Belveder bottles) and Citizen Cope performed an intimate set for the 200 or so guests. The A-List celeb crowd was out in full force and we spotted Harvey Weinstein (literally half the man he used to be), Matthew Perry, Malcolm Gladwell, James Gandolfini and enough models to bang all the Russian billionaires who reportedly bought all of the apartments upstairs. Judging by the female escorts these gentlemen had on their arms it is safe to say that if you get famous, you have it made.

For those of you who missed out, have no fear. This is the first of a series of events, and lucky for you, we will be there to cover them all. More like lucky for us.

White Star Supernova

After years of litigation, the little known Belvedere Winery had finally slayed the big bad Belvedere vodka. A judge had ruled that LVMH's clear, tasteless liquor had infringed upon the winery's precious trademark, and LVMH's had little choice but to change Belvedere's name and move on. LVMH chose White Star. They planned a big ol' marketing blitz to introduce the new product. And then nothing ever happened. So what went down? A Little Birdy, who doesn't much like singing in the rain, sang this us, "LVMH resolved the Belverdere issue with the California winery, buying the name outright. New Belvedere marketing campaign will hit full force in Sept." Resolved to us means they drove up to Napa with a big ass bag of cash and dropped it on someone's door. TCB, you know? At least our banker friends won't be confused when they get their bottle bills at Tenjune and see a $450 charge for something called White Star. Now we can all get some sleep.

Goodbye Belvedere, Hello White Star

It's no secret that Belvedere Vodka has run into some recent trademark issues. We turn to our Importing Guru for some background, who informs us, "basically, Belvedere Winery has sued the importer of Belvedere Vodka, Millennium Import, which is a subsidiary of luxury goods behemoth LVMH. A judge recently ruled against the vodka and as of now, Millennium has suspended all sales, marketing, distribution and fulfillment of orders of the product." Sucks to be LVMH. So while word of a relaunch has circulated, the real question waiting to be answered is what will the new brand be called? The rumor had been B Vodka (terrible), but a loose-lipped Little Birdy in the know tells us, "Belvedere will be re-branded as White Star Vodka. White Star is a brand that LVMH already controls as part of the Moet family of champagnes." We don't drink much vodka, but we guess that works. Give us a White Star on the Rocks. Give us a Dirty White Star. Rolls right off the tongue.