Kiwi bubbles beat costly French show-offs

By FRANCESCA MOLD

Expensive French champagnes are struggling to compete with moderately-priced local bubbly as New Zealanders' choice for toasting a new millennium.

Champagne sales have been slow to take off this year, but some of the quality local champenoise, such as Daniel Le Brun and Deutz in the under-$30-a-bottle bracket, are selling well.

Papakura Liquorland manager Jason Mill said people who could not afford to splash out on "the real thing" for New Year's Eve celebrations seemed happy to buy quality New Zealand products.

Hamilton Wine Company owner Nick Yeoman said importers had created a huge amount of hype about the availability of champagne.

This had encouraged retailers to stock up on expensive foreign brands, which could end up sitting on shelves.

"People are certainly not queuing up to buy champagne," he said.

"A couple of years ago, I sold 50 dozen bottles of Bollinger for Christmas celebrations. This year I've sold about five dozen."

One gimmicky bottle of champagne, with a bullet-proof case and a $1200 price tag, remains unsold at a Liquorland store in Auckland.

The Veuve Clicquot 1990 La Grande Dame magnum is one of a number of expensive millennium champagnes, dressed in everything from leather corsets to chicken wire, which are on sale around the world.

A single bottle of the Veuve Clicquot marque, without the case, can be bought in Auckland for $170.

Mr Yeoman has sold several bottles of Krug at $250 each, but a nine-litre $1800 bottle of Bollinger is still waiting for a buyer.

He said champagne houses were being greedy by inflating prices to make the most of the predicted demand.

"They've been trying to get us to pre-order on a monthly basis since May, saying stocks were limited.

"But I told them what they can do with their little plan."

Mr Yeoman said a bottle of Bollinger which previously would have sold for $60 was now selling for up to $90.

Moet, which usually sold at $60, was now selling for $75.

Importer Eurowine said it had not put up its prices for imported champagne, but other companies may have.

Eurowine regional manager Jose Hernandez said demand for champagne in New Zealand was huge.

Whitianga Liquorland and The Wine Cellar in Gisborne said sales were slow.

Both outlets had ordered pallets of imported champagne for Christmas and New Year celebrations, and expected demand to increase markedly in the next couple of weeks as people headed to tourist resorts for their summer holidays.

But Auckland's Lovrich Wines and Spirits said it had sold more champagne this year than in the past three or four years.

And Wine Masters in Onehunga said it had sold more this year than in the past five.

The company said it would probably run out of Bollinger before New Year's Eve, and possibly even before Christmas.