Champagne Tips From a Pro

Do you have any insider tips for buying Champagne?

You have to be careful when you buy expensive Champagne; there are good and bad years. Go to erobertparker.com, winesearcher.com or winespectator.com to find a review of the vintage. Look for a rating and a price, then compare price. Winesearcher.com is the best site to find wine in America. Everyone who sells wine is there.

Champagne rose is a touch more elegant and classy. If you are celebrating a very big occasion, get the top cuvee and get it in rose; it's even better.

What's the priciest bottle of Champagne you've sold?

At The Bubble Lounge we had a 2000 Roederer Cristal methusalem, which is equivalent to eight bottles.

In 2000, all the Champagne houses designed special bottles for the millennium. Cristal filled their bottle with a 1990 vintage, which was a fantastic year. The bottles were sold to 2,000 customers for $2,000, which was a very good price. It came in a big wood box, with your name engraved in a brass plate. The bottles immediately went for $10,000 online. They're probably worth $20,000 today.

The most expensive bottle I sold was a 1990 rose from Cristal. It was $3,600.

Prosecco seems to have taken over in the sparkling wine category; what's your take on this Champagne alternative?

Prosecco is an Italian version of sparkling; in Spain, it's Cava. It's very simple. Champagne is expensive because the dollar has fallen. The world market has changed, people all over the world have money these days, not just Americans. You have rich South Americans, Russians; so there is more demand for Champagne around the world. It's more expensive because there is more demand than supply.

With the economic crisis, people are going for Prosecco and Cava. Some are good, they are refreshing -- but nothing will be as good as a great Champagne.

At Per Se, they are decanting Champagne. What do you think about this trend?

I've seen it done before. A few months ago, there was a sale by Zachy's for very old Champagne vintages from the 1940s, '50s and '60s that were being sold for thousands of dollars. A new trend is collecting old Champagne. If kept well, they can age 30 to 40 years.