Our obsession with champagne mystery boxes began a couple of years ago when I bought my partner a box for ¥1990. I was running out of money and thought it would be an inexpensive, bubbly, and fun early birthday gift.
He loves champagne, so scoring various, high quality champagne all marked at the same price and packed in colorful boxes was ingenious to him. Unfortunately, we didn’t score an expensive one the first time. But nonetheless, enjoying a nice bottle of champagne hardly seemed like a consolation prize. I did, however, return to the supermarket to try my luck again, and so began our champagne collection.
I returned to the same store with a better strategy than selecting a random box, which was spending a half hour there picking up and putting down every one of those mystery boxes. I ended up buying only one because I also bought him a nice bottle of Möet champagne as a backup. But to his delight, we won a Dom Perignon! A ¥20,000 bottle of exquisite champagne for a tenth of the cost!
You may think that the odds of winning a bottle of Dom Perignon may be slim, but in the past two and a half years, we have scored three bottles of Dom Perignon (and on 2 consecutive birthdays, no less), 3 bottles of Dulot (worth ¥10,000 a pop), 4 bottles of Möet & Chandon, 5 bottles of Bellavista and 3 bottles of Pommery and 2 Chaillot Brut – not to mention other not-so-famous-brands worth ¥3,000 to ¥5,000 a pop. While I’m sure many of you are thinking we have lost more in value than we have actually won, I know for sure we have come out on top with every bottle. Along the way, we have discovered and enjoyed many bottles of good champagne.
So where can you find these mystery boxes? Visit your local upscale supermarket, and particularly around this time of year, you will see a tower of champagne with either ¥1,990 or ¥3,980 written on the poster with photos of the actual bottles you can win. We tried the ¥3,980 one once or twice but decided it was too expensive and not as much fun.
Several days after the New Year, I visited two high-end supermarkets in my old neighborhood. There were two tables of wine and champagne mystery boxes. The first prize bottle of red wine cost about ¥78,840 and the top-rated champagne was a ¥34,650 bottle of Cristal. I bought many boxes that day and had them delivered. But the best we did was win another bottle of Bellavista.
You can see these mystery boxes all year round and it’s a perfect gift for house parties and your colleagues. Everyone enjoys some bubbly and the anticipation of winning.
My partner and I don’t buy as many now that we have quite a collection, but if the spirit moves you, buy a box and try your luck! Win or lose, you’ll end up with a fine bottle of something!
Featured Photo by Русский on Pixabay.
Gallery by Veronica Wong.
