Off-licences have reported a seasonal upsurge in the sale of bottles of bubbly.
However, they claim "extortionate" rates of excise duty mean fewer champagne corks will be popped in Ireland on New Year's Eve compared to other European states.
Mr John Sheil, chairman of the National Off-Licence Association, said "champagne and sparkling wines would not be considered luxurious if the Government applied a normal pricing policy."
The duty on a bottle of champagne is €4.10 - double that for a bottle of wine.
"It's extortion to have to pay that much. It's the highest rate of the duty in the EU, and what's worse is that it has to be paid on sparkling wine as well as champagne," said Mr Sheil.
Despite the disincentive, Irish people are getting a greater taste for bottles of bubbly.
"I wouldn't say the market has increased for champagne. But there would be an increase in sales of sparkling wines - like Spanish cavas or sparkling Australian wines - which would not necessarily be high priced," said Mr Sheil, who runs an off-licence in Malahide, Dublin.
Cork-based champagne specialists Bubbles Brothers said sales were well up on last year, while Tesco said yesterday it had experienced record sales of champagne in Ireland in 2004.
A Tesco spokesman said "the trend for Ireland is the same as that in the UK", where champagne sales have doubled over the past six years.
"For most people over the age of 40 a bottle of champagne used to be opened for a really special event," said Mr Mark Murphy of Tesco. "But nowadays with the price of good quality champagne tumbling to under £15 [ €21] more people are likely to treat themselves and bring a bottle to a party, celebrate the start of the weekend or even if their team wins an important game."
