Experts say changing consumer habits and climate change are paving the way for new sparkling wine producers, including from Britain and Sweden, to challenge the hegemony of traditional producers and gain market share.
The recent “Prosecco and Spritz craze” has disrupted established wine consumption habits: “This 'Prosecco effect' has accelerated the consumption of sparkling wine in Europe,” Édouard Cassanet, spokesman for the French Federation of Crémant Growers and Winemakers, told Euraactive.
Sparkling wines such as Spanish Cava and French Crémant de Loire also benefited from this surge in demand, with the latter seeing unprecedented growth of 5.7% compared to 2022, resulting in 108 million bottles produced in 2023.
“This is a wine that responds to new consumption patterns; it's more affordable and has a lower alcohol content than traditional sparkling wines,” Casanetto added.
Affordability is key amid rising inflation: in France, for example, traditional sparkling wines like Champagne cost between €25 and €50, while Crémant is under €20 a bottle, as are Prosecco and Cava.
Not only are sales of traditional sparkling wines declining, but wine consumption in Europe is also in overall decline: between 2010 and 2020, wine consumption fell by 24%, and the European Commission predicts a further decline of 0.2% per year between 2020 and 2031.
In contrast, sales of new sparkling wines are booming.
A vibrant market
Spain is set to produce a new record 252 million bottles of Cava in 2023, a 3.9% increase over 2022 and a 10.6% increase in value, according to the official Spanish wine website.
Similarly, in Italy, sparkling and white wines now account for more than a quarter of total wine exports (885.1 million euros per year) and, according to data from specialized press agencies, are up 9.1% in the first five months of 2024 compared to 2023.
According to Eurostat data, between 2017 and 2021, sparkling wine exports outside Europe grew by an average of 7% per year. The main markets are the United States (31%) and the United Kingdom (28%).
Exports reached 636 million litres in 2021, up 29% after a 6% decline in 2020 due to COVID-19, with Prosecco (43%), Champagne (15%) and Cava (10%) making up the majority of exports.
New Vineyard Competitors
Rising demand for sparkling wine and climate change are attracting new competitors from Northern Europe.
“Sparkling wine grapes are usually harvested earlier than still wine grapes, before they are fully ripe, in order to preserve their acidity,” Jean-Marc Tousart, research director at the French National Agricultural Research Institute (INRAE), told Euractive.
This, combined with Europe's warming climate, makes sparkling wine production more feasible in cooler regions.
Certain grape varieties also help: for example, the “Solaris” grape variety, developed in Germany in 1975, is well adapted to cooler climates.
In Sweden, the Saatshöga vineyard currently produces 5,000 bottles of Solaris wine, with plans to increase this to 10,000 by 2026.
The bubbly-loving Scandinavian nation recently struck a deal with a British vineyard to import sparkling wine to meet domestic demand and diversify its range.
Most vineyards in the UK are already producing sparkling wine, including Kent-based Chapel Down, the UK's largest winemaker, which aims to double its sales between 2021 and 2026.
“Sparkling wine consumption is already well established in the Nordics and the new environment is offering new perspectives for producers,” said Tosar, who is conducting a study on the outlook for 2050-2070.
(Editing by Angelo Di Mambro and Martina Monti)
