The year 2000 is right around the corner (yippee) and it is not our technological advances backfiring that we should be worried about. It is whether or not you will be able to charm the pants out of that special someone with a great bottle of champagne.
What a jackass you will be with that bottle of Asti Spumante (again) because you waited till the last minute. Basically, if you were thinking Spumante this New Years and were worried about its availability, you can stop reading this article now. There is plenty and will be plenty. Now relax, I am not attacking anyone for drinking Asti. All right, maybe I am a little.
Now if you are one of the many that are planning on throwing down some cash this year's Millenium celebration then it is time to pay attention. To make this easy on me, I will misuse the term champagne throughout this article to describe all sparkling wine regardless of where it is from. This is incorrect because champagne can only legitimately be called champagne if it is from Champagne, France (A region of the country). Everything else is sparkling wine. Interestingly, all this means is champagne and sparkling wine are the same exact thing. Confused yet?
The answer to the question about the 'shortage' deal is this; there is no real shortage. The same amount, if not more, is available to the world for the monumental night. The problem is that most people will be willing to spend more on their champagne because of the New Century thing. This will kill off the super premiums, like Dom and Cristal (price range fluctuating from $110-180 now), much quicker than usual. Then the better champagnes ($20-100) will be harder to find. I can guarantee that if you wait, you will literally pay the price, at least 15 to 20 percent more than usual. Supply and demand folks!
Also, people are drinking more champagne now. Consumer confidence is back and they are not waiting for New Year's Eve for a champagne toast anymore. All they need is an excuse to celebrate and the corks start flying. Then there is all the hype going on. It's the new millenium, whoopee! Let's all get naked! So you could be up the creek if you do not act now.
The advice is simple: If you are planning to spend the dough for premium champagne this time around, then start shopping now. Even if you plan on buying a better than usual bottle of champagne this year, you need to start shopping now. Everyone is planning on cashing in on this, and hopefully, when armed with the right bottle of bubbly, you can too!