Partygoers worldwide have at least one good reason to forget the economic pain, job fears and mortgage woes of 2009: unusually cheap Champagne for New Year's.

Champagne houses and retailers have had a tough year, forcing some to make aggressive price cuts. But the discounting is causing divisions among vintners, and analysts warn the move could threaten the bubbly's premium reputation.

In supermarket chains such as Carrefour SA and Auchan, French shoppers were snapping up real Champagne for less than euro10 ($14) a bottle, as even high-end producers such as Laurent Perrier compete with cheaper bubbly such as Italian prosecco and Spanish cava.

With Champagne exports plunging, some producers are cutting prices to sell more in France. Large retailers are also taking advantage of the decline to woo recession-weary shoppers during the festive season.

Carrefour, Europe's largest retailer, has stocked 450,000 bottles of Hubert de Claminger Champagne on its French shelves, which it is selling for euro8.90 ($12.80). It is also offering up-market brands at a discount _ Moet & Chandon Imperial now retails with a euro3 reduction for euro22 ($31.60).

"It's fine to do some discounting but if you do it too steeply you can really damage the brand," said Ann Gilpin, an analyst with the Chicago-based research firm Morningstar. "Once you start to lower the price you run the risk of destroying the idea of it being a premium brand."

The discounting is being driven by some of the cash-poor smaller Champagne houses who need to boost flagging sales, but some of the bigger houses are also seeking to sell off stocks and boost volumes.

That marks a change in strategy for Champagne growers, who have been raising prices to cultivate the prestige of the sparkling wine that can only be made in a specific region of France.

Laetitia Delaye, an analyst Kepler Equities in Paris, says most of the big houses are wary of cutting prices on top-end wines because it will be difficult to persuade consumers to pay more when the economy recovers.

"This year they are trying to preserve the premium brands," she said. "It took them time to increase prices."

She said it's probably the retailers who are driving the promotions of premium-brand Champagnes, not the producers.

Laurent Perrier spokeswoman Marie-Clotilde Debieuvre-Patoz says prices are not being cut for the house's premium brands. Grand Siecle La Cuvee, which retails for around euro150 ($215), is being sold in a fancy case.