WineInk: The LA Dodgers ‘Champagne’ celebration

This year’s World Series was one for the ages.

It had everything from game winning homeruns and clutch defensive plays to extra inning heroics and dramatic storylines. And when the Los Angeles Dodgers recorded the final outs in the 11^th inning of the seventh game to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, the winners were thirsting for an epic Champagne celebration. The kind that champions in all sports have come to expect after a final victory.

Following the on-field presentation of the Commissioner’s Trophy, the Dodger players giddily gathered in their locker room under the stands of Toronto’s Rogers Centre stadium. In various stages of dress — and undress — many members of the team donned ski goggles to protect their eyes from the burn of the Champagne that would soon be projected. In the center of the room was a trough filled with ice and many bottles of bubbly.

As the players struggled to twist the muselet (the wire cage that fits over the cork of a bottle of sparkling wine) on the bottles, the Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, congratulated his team before turning it over to the Dodgers’ future Hall of Fame pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had just played in his final World Series.

“It’s an absolute honor to be in this clubhouse with you guys. I love every single one of you,” Kershaw gushed. “And I can’t imagine a better way to go out then to pop bottles of this (expletive deleted).”

Of course, bacchanalia broke out as the players erupted in hollers and cheers and shook the bottles of effervescent liquid with their thumbs resting on top, emitting showers of joy. If you have been to Cloud Nine for a Saturday afternoon dousing, then you know the feeling.

Of course, as I write about wine, I just had to know what kind of Champagne was being sprayed for this well planned and executed celebration. Was it the iconic Yellow Label of Veuve Clicquot, the choice of Aspen Highlanders? Maybe Moët et Chandon, which seems to have a monopoly on this sort of thing? Perhaps the Dodgers, who have baseball’s highest payroll at around $350 million for the active roster, would go with the Armand de Brignac “Ace of Spades,” founded by Jay Z.

As I got close to my high-definition television and clicked the images to a freeze frame hoping to catch a familiar label, I was shocked to see one — but it wasn’t Champagne. Unless my eyes do deceive me, the bottles of bubbles that the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers were using to celebrate their victory were La Marca Prosecco. Yes, the blue label, the silver wrapping, and distinct shape of the Italian producer were pretty clear. At least on my television.

My first reaction was to get all wine geeky about this and admonish those who had substituted an Italian sparkler that sells for less than $15 a bottle for French Champagne — the only Champagne that can be called Champagne. The word “cheap” came to mind. Not that I have any problem with LaMarca, one of the most popular Italian Prosecco’s in this country and a bargain at its price. I have myself, for economic reasons, purchased Prosecco instead of Champagne for picnics and casual gatherings. And though I can’t speak from experience, it sure did look like the spray of the Prosecco provided just the same oomph as the real thing.

But, as I thought further on the matter, I realized that not a single player in that room, much less any Dodgers fan around the world, could care less about Italian bubbles masquerading as French Champagne. They were just happy to have won the World Series.

There are classic photos of the Dodgers clubhouse celebrations back in the 1950s when beer was the beverage of choice. More recently, the Houston Astros reportedly spent upwards of $300K on bottles of rapper 50 Cent’s “Le Chemin du Roi Brut” Champagne brand when they won the 2022 World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies. In the photos, each team looks equally ecstatic.

The practice of celebrating sporting victory with Champagne seems to be a relatively recent affair, and we likely have auto racing to thank for it. In the 1930s, the French Grand Prix was run on the Reims-Gueux circuit in the Champagne region of France. Count Frederic Chandon de Briailles — yes, of Moët et Chandon fame — was based in Epernay in the Champagne region, and he would bring his bottles to the track to help drivers celebrate their victories. This year, Formula 1 and Moët & Chandon entered into a new agreement, making the Champagne producer the official Champagne of Formula 1.   

American driver Dan Gurney took things to another level when he won the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 along with teammate A.J. Foyt: “I was so stoked when they handed me the magnum of Moët et Chandon,” Gurney said later in life. “I shook the bottle and began spraying at the photographers, drivers, Henry Ford II, Carroll Shelby, and their wives. It was a very special moment at the time. I was not aware that I had started a tradition that continues in winner’s circles all over the world to this day.”

Be it beer or bubbles, Prosecco or Champagne, it doesn’t matter to those who have won the championship what is in the bottle. The point is to celebrate the win.

Congratulations to the 2025 world champion Los Angeles Dodgers.