Wine experts say holiday champagne recession is over

(Reuters) - Lee Sanning, an economics professor at Whitman College and, like Storchmann, a member of the American Association of Wine Economists, agrees.

"Sales of luxury goods, including that of champagne, make good leading indicators," he said.

Richard Juhlin, whose book "A Scent of Champagne" boasts tasting notes and ratings for 8,000 champagnes, will be swilling some of the world's top of the line bottles this holiday season.

"We will have a five-course champagne dinner," Juhlin said.

While his choices have not been set in stone, Juhlin said he plans to serve Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2005, which sells for about $350 a bottle, as an aperitif, followed by a similarly priced 1988 Dom Ruinart to accompany the caviar.

He selected Perrier-Jouet 1996 Belle Epoque, at $150 a bottle, to serve with the turbot, a more expensive 1995 Bollinger ($225) for the partridge course and to accompany the cheese, a 1962 Krug Collection, which retails for about $2,000.

Not all wine experts will be serving such expensive vintages. Wine consultant and columnist Lisa Carley said her choice of champagne for the holidays is the Charles de Monrency Brut NV Reserve, priced about $30 a bottle.

"It's a lovely champagne that's elegant with aromas and flavors of honey, botanicals, citrus fruit and a bit of brioche," Carley explained.

For a special New Year's Eve wine she suggested Krug NV Rose, which sells for about $300.

For wine lovers on a smaller budget experts suggest sparkling wine to bring in 2014. Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, co-authors of "Wines of the Southern Hemisphere," suggest a Spanish sparkling wine.

"We always celebrate with cava and our favorite producer right now is Pere Ventura, who only uses the traditional method to make his cava," they said about the sparkling wine that sells for about $17 a bottle.