Buy Champagne Before Brexit

It’s becoming more and more common for less known brands in champagnes to be winning awards. Just within the last 4 weeks, I’ve been reading about 2 particular champagnes that have done just this. And whilst I was eager to try them, I wasn’t rushing out to buy them or place the order online. I feel I was starting to get a bit immune from the awards flying out.

But, as I start to really appreciate the impact that Brexit is invariably going to have on French Products, there’s 2 things I believe will happen. And that’s that our favourite champagnes are going to go up in price. And secondly, I fear that people will start to look for these unheard of, awarding winning champagnes more and more as a result.

Now one could argue that Les Pionniers Champagne or Aldi’s Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut is never going to replace the cost of your Pol Roger, or Gosset or Krug or whatever. I guess, but at what point is my palate bigger than my budget?

We as people are very good at adapting if it means that we can save money or save time. Dominos give you a second pizza for free if you go and collect and yet the vast majority of their sales come from home deliveries. A lot of us loved Black Cabs however, UBER just took them out.

People adapt. And with that in mind, I start to question what impact that will have on the popularity of these supermarket champagnes. I guess that was going to depend on the taste right? Yes, in part the taste. But also the price point.

Prosecco producers learnt one thing very quickly – and that was if they were able to offer something that tasted as good as champagne, in a bottle that looked and felt equally good, with a cork that made that same popping sound and flew through the air in an arc, AT A PRICE THAT BEAT CHAMPAGNE – then there was an opportunity there. A big one.

What I enjoy about champagne is that there’s so many bottles that are simply undervalued. Bottles like Pol Roger are affordable and just delicious. Even when compared with the likes of Krug and beyond. In fact we wrote an article called Best Champagne For The Money – and I fear that if I had to write that again after Brexit, even bottles like Pol Roger could end up being repriced substantially higher – and my article would have no bottles at all in it.

In many ways, it makes you think if investing in champagne right NOW, is a good idea. It’s not that the demand will drop – I can’t see places like Park Chinois or The Ritz stopping selling high end champagne – however Brexit could very much change the lay of the land where it becomes for just the 1% and not for the masses. So if prices are going to go up, why not buy some champagne right now …..