WINE ALL YEAR-ROUND
How bubblies have transcended holiday sales .
Sparkling wine was once mostly a special-occasion beverage — reserved for weddings , New Year ’ s toasts and birthdays . No more . It ’ s still the wine of celebration , but more consumers than ever consume bubbly as an every-day pleasure . Its growth is led by the white-hot trend of prosecco , though other types of sparkling wines are also seeing healthy sales .
Consumers have “ graduated , if you will ” to drinking bubbly more regularly , says Marina Velez , manager of information services for the Beverage Information and Insights Group . “ Consumers are willing to spend on
BY LAURIE
DANIEL Champagne or sparkling wine on a daily basis . . . We don ’ t see that changing .”
In its Wine Handbook 2018 , the group calls Champagne and sparkling wine consumption a “ key driver of growth in the overall wine category ,” noting that bubbly sales were up 56 % in 10 years — and nearly 6 % last year .
In addition to the continued popularity of prosecco , and the consumption of bubbly throughout the year , the increases are also driven by the habits of younger drinkers ; the popularity of rosé wines ; and the proliferation of single-serving packages . A few retailers reported devoting more shelf space to sparkling wine , although that ’ s not always possi-
PHOTO CREDIT : © ISTOCK . COM / MARKSWALLOW
ble . ( One retailer likened allocating shelf space to a game of Tetris .)
PROSECCO LEADS THE WAY Sales have been strong for domestic sparkling wine , especially for a few brands . Mumm Napa , for example , was up more than 10 %, while Scharffenberger increased nearly 9 %. Imports , as a group , are doing even better . That ’ s largely due to prosecco , which now accounts for 17 % of U . S . sparkling wine sales — though Champagne is also experiencing healthy growth .
The only major imported category that ’ s largely stagnant is cava , the traditional-method sparkling wine from Spain . Although some retailers report success with cava , others speculated that prosecco ’ s success has eaten into cava ’ s market share . The wines tend to be similarly priced , and Brian Gelb , Total Wine & More director of imported wine , thinks prosecco ’ s rounder , more fruit-forward flavor profile is seen as more accessible .
Within most of the categories there are success stories that stand out . That ’ s particularly true with prosecco , where La Marca continues to dominate . Its 2017 sales were up almost 25 % over the previous year , according to the Beverage Information and Insights Group .
That increase has followed a string of healthy years . La Marca , the top-selling brand of imported sparkling wine , has the benefit of being imported by E . & J . Gallo , with its marketing and distribution muscle . La Marca winemaker Fabrizio Gatto offers his own reason for the brand ’ s success : “ La Marca has the charm to stand alone as an aperitif , but it also has the body and the acidity to pair beautifully with a variety of foods .”
BUBBLY SALES WERE
UP 56 %
IN 10 YEARS AND
NEARLY 6 %
LAST YEAR .
16 Beverage Dynamics • November / December 2018 www . beveragedynamics . com