These would be hard times for voltaire and Churchill. Marilyn Monroe too. Champagne, the libation they all adored, is running short. The drink itself is as effervescently seductive as ever—322 million bottles were sold last year, thanks largely to the world's new rich. Russia imported 731,322 bottles in 2006—39% more than the year before. China's imports increased 50%. That demand has pushed Champagne, the beautifully austere part of northeastern France that produces this nectar, to the brink. "For 30 years the region of Champagne has always succeeded in coping with demand," Frederic Cume-nal, president of the world's top brand, Moet & Chandon, said recently. "Today that's no longer the case. We will soon hit a wall."
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