Nothing fizzy about it: LCBO out of Dom Pérignon amid champagne shortage

If you’re looking to celebrate that important event with a glass of the good stuff, you may be flat out of luck. CityNews has learned the LCBO is dealing with a severe shortage of top quality champagne with not a single bottle of Dom Pérignon left on the shelves.

“With regards to Dom Perignon, demand continues to exceed supply at the moment,” the LCBO tells CityNews.

The top shelf bubbly, which retails for $285.95, isn’t the only champagne that’s hard to come by these days. The government-run retailer is also out of Krug Champagne, which sells for $459 a bottle. At last check it had just three bottles left of the slightly cheaper ($355) Krug Grande Cuvée Brut Champagne.

Champagne is running in short supply globally because we’re drinking a lot more of it. In 2020, demand for Champagne dropped 18 per cent according to Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, the trade organization for the Champagne region. But as demand surges back to pre-pandemic levels and many look to raise a glass of the expensive bubbly to celebrate a multitude of social gatherings such as weddings, shipping delays and bottle shortages are contributing to the tight supply.

“Global demand for premium Champagne products has significantly increased,” says the LCBO. “Vintage Champagnes – which take at least five years to produce – may not be able to ramp up production quickly to meet demand.”

While you won’t be able to pop a bottle of Dom Pérignon, you will be able to wet your whistle with some other sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France.

“We encourage customers to explore and discover new brands,” says the LCBO. “In fact, we will have seven new Champagnes at various price points entering the market in the next several months. This was a proactive measure taken by the LCBO to ensure that customers will have a broad selection to choose from.”