European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Frank a Prial new York times Hen times Are Good it s Nice to drink Champagne when times Are Lough it s important to Drin Champagne the Rule seems to lit the current circumstances consider sales of French Champagne grew 6.5 percent in the United slates Las year when Overall wine sales were off almost 2 percent in lad. Champagne sales increased g 5 percent at a Lime when the entire  category of which Champagne is a Par i. Was null a percent. Compared Wilh 19bg sparkling wine a files in the United so alas have been slipping to three years somewhat to everyone s Surprise for years sparkling wines  bucked the. Trend while wine sales and spirits sales too grow sluggish or dropped Oil. Sparkling wine sales in America boomed. For a Lime in seemed Hal every winery in California  u5f brought out a sparkling win of  disclosed that one was on the Way. Inspired by the Success of ventures. Like Moel Honnessy s Domaino Chandon the French Champagne houses wore lining up to buy Vineyard land and build Niheu own plants and cellars to make sparkling wine one by one Pipor Heidsieck Rood Eier. Tailing or. Mumm. Deulzu and Laurent Pel nor announced plans to open shop in Ca Liloria several big Spanish firms including Fen enact said they would do she same. Bui the French were driven Loo. By economic Imper Lailios real or imagined at Homo most Champagne houses made their plans to expand in the Stales in Tho Early woolly Days of the French socialist government and by the shortage of grape growing space in the Champagne i a Jion. Very Tew of the map Champagne firms in a horns anal a Mornay own their . And some own none. They must buy graphs on the open. Market every Yea and Al a Price sol by the Chi Orgis Rori  nud 1970 i. In seemed Hal every spare Inch of ground Wilhm he limited Champagne Region Hal could be used Lor grapes was planted. And yet consumption h is doubled since then for the record. Champagne Makei s lash about new. Affine no viral Callon. Methods Noli scially they grumble about plantings m unsuitable areas and of Spiel Chang Iho Harvest to its very limits recently Claude Tail linger compare buying Iii pcs to buying cigarettes with. Unlike most wines Champagne sales increased in the United safes last year. Anytime is a Good time for Champagn Rivion coupons during world War ii. Vej in Ion. In there was to to any  to Boosi Side the Champagne Region. Some Champagne houses already  interest in to Loire where France s Busl Rion Champagne sparkling wines Are made. Bui the Loire offered no. Shelter irom financial insecurity while California not having a socialist government seemed to ,. Consequently americans now May choose  selection of champagnes and sparkling winos in the world americans do drink i whoa Bil of sparkling wine Simc 105 million cases last year according to Impact a Trade publication. " the Bif Gesl Sellers by Lar Are Domestic sparkling wines like Taylor and great Western and . Gallo s remarkable Andre which even with a 10 percent decline last year showed sales of 5,1 million cases. The largest shipper of. Premium american spa Rhing wine was. Moel Hen Heasy s Domaine Chandon with 500,000 cases. The no i shipper of French. Champagne to the United slates was Moel & Chandon. Wilh 500.000 cases. 5.3 percent More than in 1986, according to Impact. After Wool the figures drop off rapidly Wilh Mumm no. 2 at 210.000 cases an increase of 2.4 percent Over the previous year. The holiest performer was Perrier Jouet. Which sold some 90,000 cases last year an increase of almost 29 percent. Both Mumm and Perrier Jouet Are owned by Joseph e. Seagram 4 sons. The 6,5 percent increase in Champagne sales last year was particularly impressive because prices to the consumer  risen by a third or More Lor Many champagnes champagnes that sold Tor $12 or less three years ago Are $18 to 121 now. Long gone Are the Days when a Champagne House like Lanson will introduce us Basic no Vintage Champagne Black Label Al a promotional Price of $6 a bottle. In fact the sparkling wine Market was mirroring exactly what was and is happening in the Laboc wine category americans Are turning to Bellcar wines Overall wine sales Are Oil. But Good wines Premium Quality wines Are doing extremely Well. Soil is Wilh sparkling wines what helps Champagne considerably Are the elevated prices of so Many other imported wines second level but Good champagnes Are still available Lor $12 to $16, considerably less than for Many medium Quality burgundies grands crus Chablis or Batter known Bordeaux. For lop qua Lilly champagnes Price is secondary. Tail linger comes de Champagne Bellinger . And Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame Are All More than $50 a bottle and even sch Ramsberg Blanc de Moirs one of the lines american sparkling wines is Over $20 Bui it is possible to drink Good Champagne without paying a Premium puce. One Way is to avoid Violago. Champagne. Champagne is  a blended a me made from stocks Kepi Loi years in the Chalk collars of the Champagne country. Each Champagne House has always taken Greal Prado m its unique blend. Its own style. A Vintage wine on the other hand must be made irom the grapes of a single Harvest and there have been Vintage champagnes that Only a Alliy i Elle cled the styles of the houses thai made them. Vintage champagnes have become popular in recent years because Consumers have come to associate. Vintages Wilh Quality. A Vintage Champagne can Cost $ to s10 Moro than a Norv Village at the Lime of release arid much More alter a Lew years  Worth in some Are not. Rma bomb Eck t suppose there Are people who watched 18 Hoins of War and remembrance on to and got on  their Ulvog Well Good or them. For some of us. Watching a mini saris thai lasts. Longer than most marriages is not easy. You know i have never been a goal setter crossing my legs in. Hot weather is about As beg As re gels Lor me. Bui s vow was made three weeks ago that Lor the is Rel tune in my. Life i was going to Mirash something i started if in look. Lor Evoi to do in a Friend of mine watched Amer a in its entirely and i consider her one of the bravest persons i. Have Over met. From Iho moment War Ana remembrance Star led. I was doomed to Laflura on the Lisl night it ran my. Husband and t  a dinner to go to. No problem we ii Lape the three  will we watch the Fwee. Hours1 Why. Iho next night during the stupid Ball game Page 1c the stars an d stripes no. ,.just before the Hill game began i squeezed m an hour and a half of in. But on i & next nigh Piaf of Iho as1 Hall Al Par i to watch part ii. On night Iii there a another conflict. So  it. At Midnight my husband said we should watch some of 11 then since Par in was coming up Iho next night i told him t could t watch pug reunited Wilh Pamola Unla Sho  slept with Philip in Singapore in. The . Ii just would t be right .1 we fell asleep Over the rest of part i and Tho near night Well right into part in. Things snarled to get out of control when my husband carelessly erased the Battle of Midway from part Iii making the wrong people sleep together on pail in -. -. During Friday and saturday. I lived to catch up. I really did j Hail  bits of in while i was unloading Iho groceries and. Saturday. December3.19b8snatches while in Yang to cute rain ii was like a runaway train i Coli Len l catch up to on Sindaye said to Heck with  instead of taping i watched part v before we  finished viewing the last Quarter of part i and part Iii h was ironic that the United slates was winning on the seen fan i we were losing the War in the living room. Nights i and Al Sorf of ran together. Our lives were focused. We slopped speaking to each other and seeing  the outside. Every night like two drones we know what we .to do. We dragged into the living room turned on the Var and watched world War ii. Someone said there arc 12 More hours of War and. ,.  up in the Spring. Ii we Don t Start gelling up Early to watch these tapes it s going to be tight. "