April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Slim, curly-haired Robert A. Rosania, champagne collector extraordinaire, is sharing a bottle of rare 1979 Salon Le Mesnil with me at New York's Cru restaurant.

The 38-year-old New York real estate investor, known as ``Big Boy'' in wine circles, gives guy hugs to restaurant employees, whips off wraparound shades and lays a Montecristo No. 2 cigar next to his glass before nodding to have the cooling bottle poured. He and I sip with satisfied smiles.

Tomorrow evening, Acker Merrall & Condit auctions off a fraction of Rosania's immense collection of vintage bubbly here at the restaurant. The 1,346 bottles, 303 magnums and 11 jeroboams include legendary fizz like 1914 Pol Roger (estimated at $8,000 to $15,000 a bottle), 1966 Krug Blanc de Blancs ($10,000 to $15,000) and 1964 Salon ($7,000 to $10,000). The Rosania sale, which also includes red gems like Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, could top $5 million, Acker says.

The market for top champagne is getting frothy, even with the world's financial woes.

``The most notable thing is that prices for top brands have been going up consistently, with no volatility,'' says James Miles, managing director of London-based electronic wine exchange Liv-Ex. Its April market report charts the rise over the past year for vintages of the big three: 1982 Roederer Cristal up 113 percent, 1985 Krug up 70 percent, 1996 Dom Perignon up 48 percent. As an investment, champagne remains undervalued compared with the overall fine-wine market, Miles says.

`Awesome' Experience

Rosania started buying Bordeaux and Burgundy in 2000, and he developed a passion for old champagne only after popping the cork on a bottle of 1934 or 1937 Krug (he can't remember which) a few years ago.

``A light went off in my head,'' he says. ``It was an incredible experience -- awesome. I had to have more.''

Age-burnished bubbly has always been considered a ``gout Anglais,'' beloved by crusty Brits. Rosania and a handful of young U.S. collectors are shifting that image.

The delicious 1979 Salon we're sampling has the darker color and complex flavors of toasted brioche and caramel that are typical of many older champagnes. To Rosania, the appeal is its depth and pitch-perfect taste, like a great soprano hitting a high note.

Not everyone is a fan. Most champagne lovers like their fizz on the young and lively side and find the earthy tones and fading effervescence in older bottles an acquired taste. For them, top vintages 1988, 1989 and 1990 are at their peak.

Besides, decades-old champagne is a rarity. Most Americans drink up their supply, not realizing that the balance and acidity of the best cuvees make them good when young yet amazingly age- worthy if stored properly.

Fewer Counterfeits

``One attraction of collecting very old champagnes -- as opposed to Bordeaux -- is the low incidence of counterfeits,'' says Marc Lazar, president of Cellar Advisors, who'll be bidding for clients. ``It's difficult to fake fizz.''

Cru restaurant owner Roy Welland, founder of Cru Capital Management, loves the evolution of flavor and softness found in aged champagne. The gems, he says, are from the '40s and '50s, though he doubts he'll buy. The prices are getting too high.

Not for some. Acker Merrall auction director John Kapon reports he's had ``mega interest'' and a flurry of faxed bids for tomorrow. Eighty people, well above their usual 50, are confirmed to attend the evening sale and dinner.

Demand is escalating not just for rare old bubbly. Prices for all prestige champagnes are positively buoyant.

Personal Case

Last month, at the Paris Opera House, Perrier-Jouet introduced the most exclusive bottles of fizz ever to tempt the superrich. For 50,000 euros you get 12 bottles, individually tailored to your own champagne ``personality,'' plus first-class travel to the cellars in Epernay and a private guesthouse stay. Among the first to snap up one of the 100 cases of this ``champagne as experience'' was Chinese film star Gong Li.

Next month, Krug officially releases its new single-vineyard 1995 Clos d'Ambonnay for $3,500 per, which a handful of collectors previewed in France last October. A few early-release bottles resold in February for $4,300 each at a Zachys auction in Las Vegas.

If these sound too rarified, you can always invest in the current vintage of Salon Le Mesnil, an all-chardonnay champagne known for its longevity. Its miniscule production of 5,000 cases is made only in the best years and aged 10 years before release. The 1996, one of the best young champagnes I've ever tasted, can be had for $300 per bottle at retail. (Rosania owns 400 cases and is selling 5 of them tomorrow).

When he gets thirsty, Rosania opens his champagne in a hurry the traditional way, by decapitating it with a swift stroke of a specially designed saber.

``Hey, it's easier than pulling a cork,'' he explains.

(Elin McCoy writes on wine and spirits for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Elin McCoy at emcwine@aol.com.

Last Updated: April 24, 2008 00:01 EDT