Happy New Year from the BasketCases!

As our longtime readers know, the BasketCases are very fond of champagne. [You can find some prior New Year's thoughts from us about this very special wine here and here.] Today, we just wanted to share with you one of our favorite photos . . . one that always brings back the happy memory of walking into a very tiny neighborhood market in Paris and seeing this marvelous display: a shelf of champagne, a shelf of Tropicana, a shelf of other beverages.

It's not the sort of thing you're likely to find at any mini-mart here in the USA. Apart from laws in some states that prohibit grocery stores from selling wine (Maryland!), what struck us about this display was not just the presence of champagne in the store, but the quality of those bottles above the orange juice -- they give new meaning to the phrase "top shelf." Double click to enlarge the photo if you need to, but that's no 7-11 swill for sale up there. The bottle on the far left is Dom Perignon. Among the other bottles are champagnes from the major houses of Veuve Clicquot and Laurent-Perrier. Would that the shelves of our local mini-mart looked like this!

And if you're thinking -- champagne, orange juice -- we can make mimosas! Think again. It would be a sacrilege to mix that Tropicana (or any OJ) with those champagnes! (Okay, the Mercier is an exception. Sold only in France . . . thank goodness! That's one champagne that could definitely be improved by adding some orange juice.)

In any event, and as always, whatever it is you're drinking (or not drinking) tonight, we wish all our loyal readers a very happy, healthy, safe -- and sparkling -- New Year!

Photo Credit: DC BasketCases