'Aussie' Champagne Great Dies

Nicholas Feuillatte the man behind France's top selling champagne has passed away at the age of 88.

Born in Paris, Feuillatte divided his time between a Parisian townhouse, a Rushcutters Bay penthouse in Sydney and a grand villa in Morocco.  He first made a fortune selling coffee in the USA and in 1976 he took command of his family’s 12-hectare Champagne vineyard at Domaine de Bouleuse, in the Ardre Valley and began to produce the Champagne bearing his own name.

 

It is the number one selling Champagne brand in France and the third biggest-selling Champagne brand in the world. Due to his well known connections with this country in Paris Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne is dubbed "the Aussie champagne".

                                                    And he partied with the jet-set including Princess Diana, Lauren Bacall and Jackie Onassis who were all good friends. One close friend from New York found Nicholas' Moroccan villa to be the perfect holiday hideaway where she could hang out in peace-Great Garbo. In Sydney his close friend was the late Lady Sonia McMahon.

Downfall of a Society Figure

Andrew Baci Romero-Whitlam & Gough Whitlam in happier times

Born in Argentina, 58 year old Andrew Esteban Romero-Whitlam was regularly seen around Sydney at society shindigs. When 'Baci', as he is called by friends, and his family emigrated to Australia they had a powerful figure in their corner as a sponsor- former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

So close was Baci to Gough that he often attended official functions with the ex-PM. He even changed his name in honour of the Whitlam family and was often referred to as Whitlam's 'adopted son' or godson. Now Baci has been jailed for a minimum of 15 months after pleading guilty in a drug supply charge.

Whitlam was busted at his tapas restaurant in Rushcutters Bay, Resto Bar last year in an undercover  police sting. In his heyday Baci owned an upmarket fashion boutique in Double Bay and dressed many of Sydney's society matrons.

In the past few years he has regularly visited Gough Whitlam for lunch at his home in Lulworth House, a luxury nursing home in Rushcutter's Bay. Romero-Whitlam's barrister Phillip Boulten SC told the court on Friday that his client " was depressed  and a chronic user of cocaine and had been for some time".