A drop in sales of French Champagne should prove to be a boon for Italian bubbly, the Coldiretti farmers' union said.
Official data from France on Monday showed that after selling a record 338 million bottleS of Champagne last year, sales of the sparkling French wine in the first ten months of 2008 fell for the first time in 20 years, dropping by 4.9% over the same period last year.
Sales of Italian spumante and prosecco, on the other hand, have been climbing steadily and this year the number of bottles exported for the first time surpassed those being consumed at home.
The drop in French Champagne sales was for the most part for the 'budget' brand names, which are the ones that feel the competition the most from Italian and Spanish sparkling wines.
The volume of exports of spumante and prosecco was up 10% this year and exports to Britain have leapt 115% from 2007, Coldiretti said.
The key to the success of Italian bubbly, Coldiretti observed, was that ''consumers can save money without sacrificing quality''.
Despite the increase in exports, Italy remains the third-biggest producer of sparkling wine after Germany with 480 million bottles and France with 435 million.
The production figures mirrored consumption with Germany on top at 585 million bottles, then France a distant second with 266 million and Italy third with 165 million.
The same line-up regarded per capita consumption, with Germany at six bottles a year, France with five and Italy, as well as Spain, with three.
A total of 50 million German say they are bubbly drinkers, compared to 32 million French and 17 million Italians.
