EACH time Mr Nicklaus D'Cruz pops a bottle of champagne at Velvet Underground nightspot, it sets him back by at least $250. In a week, the 41-year-old businessman spends over $500 on just champagne alone.
For him, not any bubbly will do, only the real stuff, French champagne. Only champagne from France can call itself that, by law.
Other countries' bubbly have to be content with descriptions such as sparkling wine or other fizzling labels.
And for Mr D'Cruz, it is not just any French champagne, either, but the top-drawer luxury brands such as Dom Perignon and Krug Grande Cuvee costing at least $250 each.
Not for him a bottle of upmarket Australian bubbly priced around $120.
The bon vivante is splashing out at a time when you'd think clubbers would rein in their spending.
Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!.
