Champagne Days

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

1-4 COAST Is Clear

Music & Arts Festival

Key West, FL

3 Big 12 Football

Championship

Arlington, TX

8 National Pretend to

Be a Time Traveler Day

10 Nobel Prize Day

12 tastyworks Platform Overview Demo

13-14 Federal Open Market Committee Meeting

14 FOMC Rate Decision and Forecasts

16 Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters

25 Christmas Day

31 National

Champagne Day

31 New Year’s Eve

31 Peach Bowl

Atlanta

Blue Redux

Avatar didn’t just surpass the $2 billion box office record in 2009—it totally obliterated it by grossing $2.7 billion. Ahead of the film’s sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, set to hit theaters Dec. 16, the original film was rereleased in theaters around the world, opening with $10 million in domestic ticket sales and $30.5 million worldwide.

The original Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, according to Deadline Hollywood, an online news site. It went on to win three Oscars—for Best Cinematography, Production Design and Visual Effects.

The original cast has returned for the sequel, including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. Three more films are scheduled in the series, and they’re slated for release every two years. Avatar 3 is expected to open in December 2024, Avatar 4 is set for release in December 2026 and Avatar 5 is scheduled to open in December 2028.

Fizz, Sparkle, Pop!

Champagne wasn’t at the top of many shopping lists in 2020— apparently people didn’t feel like celebrating the pandemic. Sales fell by 18% from the year before and finished the year with revenue of $4.8 billion and total bottle sales of 244 million.

In 2021, however, Champagne sales soared 32%, with 322 million bottles purchased worldwide. But the resurgence, combined with other factors, has resulted in shortages that could last for years, according to Wine Enthusiast. The magazine blames an “increase in demand, diminished grape harvests and a disrupted supply chain due to the pandemic.”

Fueled by inflation, prices for prestige cuvee Champagne labels rose in 2021 and have continued to go up this year. Nevertheless, in 2021, France landed the No. 1 spot for buying the most champagne in the world with 102,200 million liters. The U.S. was No. 3 with 20,500 million liters. The current best-selling bottle in the U.S. is Veuve Clicquot, which has seven categories of Champagne.

Meanwhile, the world’s most expensive bottle of Champagne recently sold complete with its own non-fungible token, or NFT. It was Champagne Avenue Foch 2017, and it brought a price of $2.5 million.

Nobel Laureates

Swedish chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel laid the groundwork for the Nobel Prize in his will, stating the honor should be bestowed upon

“those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” The first Nobel Prize was awarded in 1901.

Today, there are six categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine,

Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. Each award includes a gold medal, a diploma and a cash prize. To date, 615 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 989 laureates because the award sometimes goes to teams instead of individuals. Sixty awardees have been women and 27 have been organizations. The youngest laureate was 17 and the oldest was 97.

Five scientists have won two times, but The International Committee of the Red Cross has won the most awards, pulling off the feat four times in 1901, 1917, 1944 and 1963. The U.S. has had the most recipients with 400 laureates.