You want crisis, we got crisis...according to the Daily Mail, we're in the midst of a global champagne shortage .
The problem is that vineyard owners in the Champagne district in eastern France are refusing to sell tens of millions of bottles stocked in their cellars because they see them as their retirement "nest-eggs"(vintage champagne, like most vintage wines fetches a handsome premium).
That's coupled with increased demand from places like Russia, India and China, and the result is that the most prestigious French champagne houses are having trouble supplying the market.
There are only 32,600 hectares of vineyards authorized to produce the grapes needed for champagne, which by French law must be either the white Chardonnay, or the black Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier.
Experts say the maximum number of bottles that can be wrung out of the current vinyards is 350million....and planting more vinyards and allowing time for them to mature properly is going to take some time n'est pa?
I predict increased sales of champagne type wines from Australia, Italy California and Spain..which, depending on brand can be damned decent.
In the meantime, a client of mine just gave me a bottle of vintage Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin as a present, and I plan to savor it.
You can also try Pongraz (Method Cap Classique) - made with champagne type grapes in South Africa - used to be called champagne until the EU threatened legal action over the name (South Africa had been making champagne since the arrival of the French Hugenots in the 1700s) - even better than the real thing...especially on a hot summers day in Cape Town.....
ReplyDelete