New Vintage Champagne Releases

Apparently the large Champagne houses are convinced that the world economy is back on track, if this year’s (suggested) price hikes are any indication. I hope their crystal ball is working, in a larger sense, but I’m alarmed at the fact that many of the most sought-after Champagnes, at least those from the Grandes Marques houses, have escalated in price—in some cases dramatically—since my tastings a year ago. Of course, the hard reality is that the market—through importers, wholesalers, retailers and ultimately consumers—will decide if those higher prices will actually be realized and if they will hold. It’s one thing to ask a price and quite another to actually get it, as any American homeowner or New World syrah producer can attest.

My own opinion is that in a tough economic market such as the one we’re dragging through right now, jacking up Champagne prices at all, much less by 25% or more, is irrational exuberance or simply hubris, or both. Complicating matters is the fact that the U.S. dollar lost about 10% of its value against the Euro between the time I started my Champagne tastings in late summer and the end of October. The most commerce-minded producers and their often hyperactive marketing machines like to promote Champagne as a celebratory beverage, but, to paraphrase British singer Jarvis Cocker, “I don’t see many people smiling here.”