Moet Hennessy to make bubbly in China

Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits arm of France's LVMH luxury group, said Wednesday it will make red wine in China where a taste for the better things in life has boomed along with the economy.Moet Hennessy said it had joined forces with VATS, a Chinese wine firm, to develop a vineyard of 30 hectares (74 acres) in Yunnan province, southeastern China."It is the first time that LVMH has gone into red wine in China," a company spokesman said, adding that it would be of very high quality and ready to drink within four or five years.

Reuters - LVMH , the world's largest luxury goods group, on Wednesday denied it was in talks to sell its wine and spirits unit Moet Hennessy.

PARIS (Reuters) - LVMH , the world's largest luxury goods group, on Wednesday denied it was in talks to sell its wine and spirits unit Moet Hennessy.

Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of the French luxury group LVMH, has launched a new winery in Deqin county, in Yunnan province.

By George Jarkesy:Two Luxury Goods MakersWith the recent publicity about the "Occupy Movement" and its highlighting of the income disparity between the 99% and the 1%, I thought investors might be interested in learning about companies doing very well selling to the 1%.

French luxury goods giant LVMH said Thursday it had enjoyed a banner year in 2011 with net profits above three billion euros despite the uncertain global economy."2011 was another great vintage for LVMH," group CEO Bernard Arnault said in a statement.The LVMH name owns, among others, the brands of Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Hennessy, Moet & Chandon and Dom Perignon champagnes and Sephora perfume stores.

Swatch Group AG, the biggest maker of Swiss timepieces, agreed to buy the Harry Winston watch and jewellery brand for about US$1 billion, adding a luxury label in its biggest acquisition. Swatch Group will pay Harry Winston Diamond Corp. US$750 million and assume as much as US$250 million in debt, the Biel-based company said in a statement Monday. Harry Winston Diamond, whose name was mentioned by Marilyn Monroe in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” said it will now be known as Dominion Diamond Corp. and focus on its diamond-mining operations.