Poor college students won’t have any problems toasting in the new year with the low-end bubbly — it’s the champagne connoisseurs who will be dissatisfied with the selection available this late in 1999.

Although high-class liquor merchants said they haven’t been able to keep expensive champagnes such as Dom Perignon in stock, less costly varieties are readily available.

“As a matter of fact, we’ve got a couple of really large displays up right now,” said Chris Underwood, employee in the wine and spirits department at Hy-Vee, 640 Lincoln Way.

The Keg Shop, 218 Welch Ave., also is well-stocked with champagnes and sparkling wines.

“We’ve got a lot on hand,” said Jeremy Rohlf, employee at the Keg Shop.

Both store officials expect the demand to go up and supply to go down closer to the holiday, though.

Denny Gano, owner of Cyclone Liquors, 626 Lincoln Way, said his shelves already are going bare, especially those holding more expensive brands and styles.

People are buying their New Years spirits much earlier than usual, Gano said.

“It’s probably wise if they want something rather than the everyday champagne and sparkling wines,” he said. “If you want something special, you should be looking now.”

Gano said he isn’t surprised grocery stores aren’t experiencing the same inventory problems.

“Tell them to try to by a case of Dom [Perignon] somewhere,” he said. “They have no idea.”

Aunt Maude’s, 547 Main St., also has a limited supply of the valuable drink.

“The only one that we’ve had a problem with is Dom,” said Jessica Rettig, manager of Aunt Maude’s.

The restaurant’s supplier offered to sell Rettig a case of Dom Perignon in July, but she had a lot at the time and didn’t anticipate the difficulty she would have finding it later in the year. Now they are sold out.

Under normal circumstances, Aunt Maude’s charges about $130 a bottle for Dom Perignon. However, Cyclone Liquors is charging about $200 a bottle right now, leading Rettig to push up her prices.

“I’m obviously going to have to charge $250 for them,” she said.

But lower-level varieties should remain within their usual price range, Rettig said.

“We have a lot of stuff on our list that’s medium-priced that I haven’t had a problem getting at all,” she said, noting that the next highest-priced bottle she sells costs $80. “People are a lot more willing to pay that.”