The company behind Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug and Dom Pérignon has said it is “running out of stock on our best champagnes” as the wealthy spend big on luxury goods in a new “roaring 20s” age of decadence.
According to the head of LVMH’s wines and spirits division, “pent-up demand” following the easing of coronavirus restrictions has prompted a run on the finest fizz.
The chief executive of Moët Hennessy, Philippe Schaus, said 2022 would be “a fabulous year” for its champagne – which starts at about £40 a bottle and can run into the thousands – as evidenced by stocks running low in the company’s network of cellars that stretch for 17 miles under the town of Epernay in France’s Champagne region.
“We are running out of stock on our best champagnes. As people are coming out of Covid there’s been pent up demand for luxury, enjoyment and travelling,” Schaus told Bloomberg in an interview at New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday.
He said the leap in demand had been so big that, internally, the company was referring to the current boom as “the roaring 20s”, a reference to the economic prosperity of a century ago.
Schaus – whose wines and spirits division includes Glenmorangie single malt whiskies, Belvedere vodka and New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay wine – did not state which champagnes were running low, or how low stocks had fallen.
It’s not just champagne that’s flying off the shelves.
Luxury goods companies across the world have recently reported booming sales in everything from designer label clothing and handbags to expensive watches and supercars as the ranks of the ultra-wealthy hit record highs.