Who’s got a key to Frank Murray III’s cellar?
No shortage Chez Cohen.
No shortage on Wine-Searcher.
I have it from a retail friend that this is a story that began over a year ago when the Champagne bureaucracy decided to tighten supply, and as suggested above, it’s all noise at the low end.
Does anyone here really see a shortage of anything they would want to buy that is different than in the past? I don’t. I do see prices have risen steadily for quality Champagne but have seen no evidence that is driven by supply side issues. That said, 2021 may create yet-to-be-seen supply issues. We will see.
The liquor store next to our Costco had a big floor stack of Veuve Yellow Label for $35.99.
So no shortage of mediocre Champagne near me.
I was at Table & Vine yesterday, and they had almost all of what they usually carry. They were virtually out of anything Bollinger, but everything else was in stock so far as I could tell.
I swear I have heard this “shortage” story every year for the last 10.
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That is a nice price but still bad QPR. I have seen it as high as $60 in the Twin Cities. A few guys last weekend were acting like they were wine experts and saying how they were going to impress at the party with the Veuve. I almost told them to buy to Roederer Anderson’s for the same price and impress more.
Yea, I have 14 plus cases being delivered in the next two weeks. I have been buying all year, and am really looking forward to getting these in soon!! But I am seeing a ton available lately,
I agree it’s bad QPR. Just noting availability and lower than normal price, indicating that there’s no shortage.
Agree on no shortage. Maybe an excuse to raise prices and get consumers to buy now until on December 31st.
I’ve been able to buy Les Chetillions locally for at least the last decade. It very consistently would show up around mid-November. So far this year: nada.
. It really depends on the audience. If the primary goal is impressing people (not QPR or quality), and your intended audience has average wine knowledge (aka very little), you’re going to dazzle a lot more with the highly recognizable VC colour scheme circulating at your party than some label that will get approving head nods from a small handful people who are in the know.
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I don’t think of myself as a wine collector, but more of a wine doomsday prepper. I want to survive shortages with a large stash of wine.
Just think if you followed that starter with Rombauer and finished it up with some Silver Oak! 
I have been told by reps some of the higher visibility stuff may be tight. The more obscure, geeky, grower stuff should be about the same though there may be outages. If you know where to find it they should have it.
Locally, the distributor is out of all Roederer, Charles Heidsieck, Piper-Heidsieck, and Pommery. I’m not in the market for most of that, so no big deal for me personally. The local Krug, Dom, and Taittinger distributor had no stock of any Krug or Dom but would allow me a 6-pack of Comtes 2011 at great expense on which I passed. They both claim supply chain issues.
Grower stuff is more or less normal.
That’s a pretty small sample size to make such a generalized statement. Plus you’re confusing a delay (or any other possible reason) with a shortage.
If you read the OP, the statement is based on what I am observing on multiple local retailers shelves across the board. The Chetillons along with 2012 Dom Perignon (also presently, locally unavailable) are what matter to me at this time.
The customers may or may not be stupid (odds suggest a non-zero percentage will be), but this is just ignorance combined with a healthy skepticism for sales staff trying to convince them to buy something they’ve never heard of because it is “better.” And let’s be honest: retail sales staff has a well-earned reputation for moving the high-margin product or the one on which there are spiffs or other sales incentives.
For a lot (most?) people buying champagne in the holidays is an annual thing. They don’t really want an education or a sales job. They want what they want. That isn’t stupid.
We got the Piper flowing and usually is my go to NV for the money. $37 in Minneapolis on sale. Many others are going much higher with their scare tactics.
I think the owner hid a bottle of Dom Perignon in the back I found… I’m not sure if he’s saving that for someone or nah…
I recently bought some Taittinger La Francaise and Aubrey at a local grocery store for $31 each. Those 30% off 6 bottles sometimes produces a good deal. Most of my champagne purchases are based on value.
No problem for champagne where I live in Northern California
This doesn’t surprise me because you’re in a small market. I would expect that this is where the shortages will be compared to the larger markets.
David’s quote of $35.99 for Veuve is pretty shocking though-here in NY rock bottom is $49.99 on W-S and most local stores are in the $50-65 range. There are definitely limitations at the supplier level, if stores have wine it’s because they bought in when it was available.