As if season two of the pandemic wasn’t tumultuous enough, we can’t even properly celebrate its finale thanks to the latest in our ongoing supply chain crisis. The US is reportedly facing a champagne shortage—just in time for New Year’s Eve.
According to Wine Enthusiast, the market has seen a massive swing in demand over the last 18 months, beginning with an 18% drop in 2020 followed by soaring champagne sales by the end of the year. Chief Operating Officer for Drizly Cathy Lewenberg says we can’t blame a single cause.
“It’s really driven by a kind of the perfect storm. Demand for champagne is up 20% this year, which has just been incredible, and then you marry that with issues like climate impact, mildew impact, and damaged crops, as well as just general supply chain issues,” Lewenberg told Thrillist.
While for Drizly in particular, the impact has been eased by the ability to feed customers to the liquor stores with champs still in stock, the company has also tapped into alternative resources as well, especially in preparation for the beverage category’s biggest night of the year, NYE.
“The other big thing we’ve been focused on is finding alternatives, so the sparkling category in general has been up across the board and people are looking to things like Cava, Prosecco, and a lot of the American sparkling wines as alternatives to champagne,” Lewenberg said, naming La Marca, Chandon, and Freixenet as substitutes.
Megan Schaltegger is a staff writer at Thrillist.