A lot of people contact me wanting me to help them source champagne. Some of them are looking to pay as little as just 8 euros per bottle. There was a time when that was possible, but no longer.
Here’s what’s happened since then and why prices are going up…
Two years ago, if I had gone to a supplier I may have been able to find something at 8 euros – not top quality stuff mind you, but champagne nevertheless. The type of champagne you find on special offer in large retailers, or that is used for pouring at big events where no one really cares, or knows, what they are drinking.
These days a champagne maker would simply laugh at me if I were to suggest a price of 8 euros. Prices are on the way up.
Whether you view this as good news or bad news all depends on whether you’re buying champagne or making it I suppose, but the cheap deals that have been around for the past two years are on their way out, it seems
To help you understand why here’s a quick explanation of where these deals came from in the first place. It’s an over-simplificaton, but it illustrates the essential points.
When the financial crisis hit a couple of years ago a lot of champagne makers found themselves with loads of bottles in their cellars that they couldn’t sell.
These bottles still hadn’t finished the ageing and production process; under normal circumstances they may well have been aged a good while longer before they were disgorged, dosé (had sugar added) corked, labelled and generally prepared for sale. In other words there was still quite a bit of work to do and cost involved, but an urgent need for cash meant that some champagne makers needed to shift the bottles as they were.
When they’re ageing like this the bottles are said to be ‘ sur lattes’, the ‘lattes’ being the wooden batons placed between each level of bottles as they are stacked in the cellar.
So for several months there have been good bargains to be had in the ‘sur lattes’ market. Large buyers could drive hard bargains and get very good prices for job lots. They would finish off the production process , sell the champagne off cheaply and pass these savings on to retail customers. The drawback with this system is that champagne that is ‘sur lattes’ is sold in job lots and there is no continuity of supply or stability of price.
What’s happening now is that ‘sur lattes’ champagne is going up rapidly in price as the champagne makers have less need for quick cash and become more confident that, if they hold on to the bottles until the end of the normal production process, they’ll be able to sell them at a better price.
At the start of January I was quoted 10 euros, or slightly less, for these sorts of job lot.
I spoke to the same source yesterday and now the going rate is well over 11 euros
That was my buying price, the actual cost of the ‘sur lattes’champagne is a minimum of 8 euros which leaves the champagne maker only 3 euros to cover the cost of finishing the production and make a margin – still pretty tight but it’s significantly higher than just a few months ago.
So anyone expecting to buy cheap champagne, even big quantities, is probably going to be disappointed. For you the consumer this means fewer rock bottom prices.
The good news is that the smaller houses who make champagne from their own grapes were never involved in the ‘sur lattes’ market. Most of them use only grapes from their own vineyards and wine they make themselves. They still offer the same excellent quality as before and although you’ll pay more than 8 euros, their prices are reassuringly stable.
If you haven’t yet discovered these gems, it’s high time to give them a try.