Bottles of champagne wait for being labelled at the sparkling wine producer Kessler in Esslingen near Stuttgart, Germany, Dec. 5, 2007. The bubbly beverage is consumed in celebration of special occasions -- think weddings, New Years -- and sprayed in a celebration of victory on the playing field and used to christen ships.
Stock traders drink glasses of champagne in front of the German Stock Index (DAX) display monitor after the last day of trading in 2007 at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, Dec. 28, 2007.
A passerby is seen with a bottle of champagne and an inflatable piglet, a German symbol for good luck, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Monday, Dec. 31, 2007. Sparkling wine can only be called "champagne" only if it comes from the Champagne region of France. Within that region, there are more than 100 champagne houses and 15,000 smaller vignerons or vine-growing producers.
You can always celebrate a train ride in Europe with a champagne toast! Here, a bartender pours a glass of champagne at The Champagne Bar at the new St. Pancras International Station on Nov. 14, 2007, in London, England.
Team Canada's Head coach Sean Simpson splashes champagne inside the locker room after Canada won the final game between Team Canada and Salavat Yulaev Ufa, Russia, at the 81th Spengler Cup ice hockey tournament, in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, Dec. 31, 2007.
Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia sprays champagne in the clubhouse at Fenway Park in Boston early Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2007, after the Red Sox won baseball's American League Championship with an 11-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. The deliberate spraying of Champagne has become an integral part of some sports trophy presentations, beginning with the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Guillermo Canas of Argentina, (not in picture) sprays champagne over Rafael Nadal of Spain after their final Open tennis match in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 29, 2007. Nadal won 6-3, 6-4.
Runner Robert Garside celebrates with champagne after being accepted by Guinness World Records as the first person to run round the world on March 27, 2007, in London. Garside started and finished his run from India Gate in New Delhi taking a total of 2062 days from October 20, 1997 to June 13, 2003 to run through 29 countries on six continents.
Laurent-Perrier Champagne is shown at the Oscar Govenor's Ball Press preview held at the Hollywood and Highland Grand Ballroom Feb. 1, 2007, in Los Angeles. In 2006, 21 million bottles of champagne were shipped to the United States. Contrary to what is often shown in film and television, it is impolite to allow the cork to make a loud "pop" sound. The cork should be slowly and carefully turned for removal.
Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu toasts with a glass of champagne during an interview about best director and best picture nominations for his film "Babel," in Beverly Hills, Calif., Tuesday morning, Jan. 23, 2007.
Burlesque artist Dita von Teese chose to take a dip in a giant glass of the bubbly during the opening night party for the "Very Lingerie Week - Dita Von Teese Photo Exhibition" at the Spiral Gallery on June 19, 2007, in Tokyo, Japan.
Britain's Prince Charles and Camilla are shown during the naming ceremony of the Cunard liner "Queen Victoria," in Southampton, England, Dec. 10, 2007. During the ceremony for the $600 million ship, Camilla failed to smash a bottle of champagne against the bow -- a traditional omen of bad luck. Since then, dozens of passengers came down with an intestinal bug.
A woman passes near graffiti that reads "champagne and caviar for everybody" during a rally by anti-globalization activists and leftists in support of activists standing trial for suspected violence during the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa, Nov. 17, 2007.
A Christmas tree made of carefully-stacked champagne glasses was created in Tachikawa city, Japan.
Did you know... Champagne is usually served in a champagne flute, whose characteristics include a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl and opening... There are approximately 58 million bubbles in one bottle of champagne... The pressure in a bottle of champagne is 90 pounds per square inch, about three times that in a car tire.
French exports of wines and spirit are set to hit a new record in 2007, raking in more than 9 billion euros ($13 billion), the head of the exporters' federation said on Dec. 21, 2007. Cognac and champagne are leading the boom in sales, according to Philippe Casteja, president of the federation of exporters of wines and spirits in France.