Champagne stays on ice amid crisis

♦ The world is in no mood to pop champagne corks, according to makers of French bubbly, who predict a sales plunge of up to 75 per cent in the second quarter due to the global lockdown.

“We have been cut down since the crisis,” said Maxime Toubart, president of the main Champagne winemakers syndicate.

“The sale of champagne bottles is heading to fall by 50 to 70 per cent in the first quarter,” he told Le Monde.