NORTH EAST (Erie News Now) – Many are saying cheers to the holiday season. But this year we are seeing a shortage in booze like champagne and skyrocketing prices fueled by the shipping crisis, a lower supply coming in, and of course a higher demand as people are looking for excuses to celebrate.
But this has some local wineries clinking their glasses and popping open their sparkling wines.
“It shouldn’t affect us very much at all,” Sam Best said.
Best and his wife own Lakeview Wine Cellars in North East and struggled through the pandemic so he said this nationwide shortage could certainly help our local wineries.
“We have a plentiful supply on hand and we’re always in the process of making more throughout the year,” Best said.
Because all of the wine is produced and bottled locally, he doesn’t see it being an issue for any of the local wineries, and he noted the importance of purchasing wine and sparkling wine locally anyway.
“What people don’t realize is we’re able to do as well here as they do any place in the world,” Best said. “When you’re buying your products local, they are actually made from local grapes in the area so we don’t source anything from out of state.”
The story is similar at Souths Shore Wine Company who have seen an uptick in sparkling wine sales.
“This sparkling Chardonnay and Riesling are top of the line and I’d put them up against a lot of sparkling wines from a lot of other regions including France,” Blaine Ballard, a brand ambassador for Mazza Family of Wines said.
He said that having local options goes a long way because it helps consumers in this shortage while also helping the local economy.
“It really supports not just our wineries, but the farmers that contribute to us which are predominately local, workers that work on those farms,” Ballard said.
Bottles of sparkling wine at both of these stores range from about 15 to 25 dollars and of course are made and bottled right here locally.
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