Earlier this week, I stopped into my local wine shop to pick up something bubbly for the weekend. Typically in the winter, my tastes tend to veer more towards bold, oaky red wines, but, as I texted my partner, "the New Year calls for champagne."
As soon as I hit send, I looked up and realized that I wasn't alone in the sparkling wine aisle — far from it, in fact. Dozens of shoppers were huddling around bottles of Dom Pérignon and gently pushing towards the end cap display of Veuve Clicquot. Here we all were, purchasing the exact same kind of beverage to imbibe on the exact same night and I'd never before stopped to wonder why.
