As the new year rolls in, you might find yourself looking for alternatives to champagne, as the bubbly beverage is in a shortage. The reason why, Krenar Gozhdari, a winemaker with South Shore Wine Company, said has to do with a couple of factors.

“As we know, champagne is only produced in France, in a specific region. We cannot have it denominated as Champagne outside of that region, and that is a limited territory. So we have a limited quantity of wine that can be produced out of that territory, because of the certain limitations by law and also by nature,” Gozhdari said.

Gozhdari said that the champagne regions in France experienced a frost in 2021, which is affecting the supply. As for demand, U.S. sales for champagne increased by 64 percent from 2021 to 2022. At South Shore Wine Company, Gozhdari said they've also seen an increase for their sparkling wines, and have the ability to make more.  

“Now it's holiday time, the consumption goes up, people are requesting it a lot. Here at Mazza we have seen in recent years a rise in the demand” Gozhdari said. 

South Shore Wine Company has roughly seven different sparkling wines to choose from including, white, rose and red, and Gozhdari said South Shore Wine Company are holding up well with both demand, as well as quality. 

“We're honestly doing a pretty good job over here. I like personally, as a winemaker, the wines -- the quality of the wines produced here,” Gozhdari said.