[quantim]

There is no such thing as 'California champagne' and it is illegal to label a product as such and only a novice writer and editor would make that mistake.

The writer was 'phishing' so to speak.  The truth was the French were holding back shipments to U.S. ports to drive up prices at the last minute.

There were huge numbers of containers off the coast of Cliquot, Dom, Bollinger, Perrier, etc. sitting and waiting to go through customs.

Big sellers like Costco had none.  As the y2k date approached it was too little too late, there was a glut for years, and many folks that bought futures were plugged and have not forgotten.

Then followed by the 9/11 economic impact, French U.N. follies, and so forth.

[NautiNurse]

There were huge numbers of containers off the coast of Cliquot, Dom, Bollinger, Perrier, etc. sitting and waiting to go through customs.

Fascinating info--you always have the best inside info for these threads!