The Millennium Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide [antikvár]

• ^^ JÎLi//ennaim' tfi^L^iZ/v^!:^;^ ^??ic/e/- Fomewomd §0 now we know: the Titanic was not launched with a bottle of Champagne, and the rest is history, as they say What is it about sparkling wine that possessed the first person to crack a botde on the bow of a ship? The bubbles! The same bubbles that spout a fountain over the winner of a Grand Prix. When a glass is raised, it is the incessant froth that makes sparkling wine such a wonderful joie de vivre, the ultimate drink with which to celebrate and toast. Yet, as we approach the Millennium, which promises the mother of all parties, rumours are rife that real Champagne is about to run dry! In just five years, the industry has lurched from an economic depression that created a crisis of mounting stocks to talk of a shortage. More corks wiU fly at midnight on 31 December 1999 than at any previous time, but the celebrations do not start or end there. The millennium effect wiU last for three years, with the end of century festivities in 1999, the inevitable celebrations in 2000, and a year later for those who recognise 2001 as the true Year One of the new millennium, just as AD 1 was. However, it will not be from individuals cracking open a few botties at midnight on three consecutive New Year Eves that stocks Champagne Vilmart looks to the Third Millennium with its 1990 Cuvée Création. will be tested. The biggest guzzlers will be crowds at major social, sporting and anniversary events around the worid that happen to coincide with one of the three millennial years, giving their organizers the excuse to make the events that much bigger and more special than usual. More likely than not, it wiU be genuine Champagne that flows freely at such times. But fear not. This enormous demand wiU affect supply, but there is no real likelihood of Champagne disappearing from the shelves. After a few years of plummeting sales, stocks grew to one bUhon botdes, and production now averages over a quarter of a billion bottles each year. Furthermore, over the last decade production has exceeded demand, so that there are still about a biUion botdes in stock. Champagne per se will not run out. Moreover, sparkling wines from other parts of the world have never looked so exciting, with a new quality-minded generation in Germany, and South Africa about to join the ranks of established fizz industries in France, Italy, Spain, the USA and Australasia. However, special vintages and cuvées are always in high demand and wiU certainly be depleted over the next few years. Hence, The Millennium Champagne & Sparkling Wine Guide has been conceived to help you choose the very best fizz, whether you want to drink some now or lay some down for those once-in-a-lifetime occasions.