Italian bubbles, for the holidays 250 million bottles will be uncorked worldwide for 1.7 billion

The national production of sparkling wines is growing by about 9% compared to 2023, mainly with corporate and IGT brands, and, this year, it has approached 1 billion bottles. Also, the turnover of sparkling wine companies is growing in 2024, whilst drops of about 4-5% for still wine companies are being registered, with peaks also of 15%, highlighting, in this way, a certain diversity between wine producers inside the same territories and regions. For all Italian wine, an annual turnover of the production close to 14 billion euros, and a new export record close to 8 billion euros are estimated. Sparkling and Effervescent Wines Observatory (Ovse) together with the Center for Market and Consumption Analysis and Economic Observatory (CevesUni) trace the financial report pointing out an ongoing, that, still now, awarded “attention, saving, and diversity”, with sparkling wines in the front row to “save consumption and export”.
This, despite the fact that the national consumption of sparkling wine is stable, pushed by Prosecco, but anyway judged as very fluctuating with a strong return to “seasonal adjustment”, and “localization” of consumption, but with a growing turnover of consumption, mainly in horeca channel, primarily for brands and most well-known territories, and for DOCG and DOC sparkling wines, whilst a drop in figures, and purchases in the large-scale distribution, where a decrease in the turnover is registered demonstrating growth of first class sparkling wines.
Volumes and values are confirmed in cash and carry channels, and discounts, whilst e-commerce, after the boom, results to be stable with different dropping labels and typologies in purchases. Also “green” sparkling wines featured in the different versions and typologies are not effective, much less than the appeal of still wines with 2024 confirming to bea  “no-wine” for Gen Z, for which Ovse and CevesUni suggest finding a new formula to propose and communicate well to get them closer to the industry.
At this point, Italian sparkling wines represent 30% of the national total export of wine. In addition to the growth of the turnover of sparkling wine companies (on average 7-9%), also a +14% in value to consumption is estimated, just under +7% in volume, and with Prosecco still leading with +10%. Countries such as China, the UK, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and South Korea lose ground (also by 7-14% in volume), whilst the US, Canada, Australia, France, and Russia grow considering the number of bottles consumed.
In the different markets, the unit values are strongly increasing considering both first class and premium labels: excluding historical brands such as Asti, the consumption of Asti and Prosecco, Franciacorta and Trentodoc Italian bubbles occurs mainly out of home, even if Prosecco grows in domestic consumption. A still unmet demand is registered – also for the typology of sparkling wine – of no-alcohol wines, but to better define as humorous grapes-based beverages.
In the meantime, sparkling wines are entering into their most “chic” annual moment, that of Christmas celebrations. For the end of year 2024, and beginning 2025, data of 2023 is confirmed, with a growth in consumption both in horeca sector, and in the expense of Italians, as well as in the turnover of distribution companies. But, if the shelves are increasingly richer in labels and typologies (mainly Prosecco), the shopping chart results to be less full: the bottles of first price are stable, whilst premium labels of Franciacorta, Trento, Alta Langa, Valdobbiadene grow in volumes, and, consequently, a major growth of the turnover in the market is registered.
Already between 2024, December 12-15, the first promotional sales of blended packaging sparkling wines-panettone were registered, and the trend of the end of the year seems to follow a similar rhythm to that of 2023 with measured volumes but more value. In Italy, during the celebrations, about 95 million of bottles will be uncorked for an exchange value to consumption of little less than a billion euros. Only during the night greeting the end of the leap year, it is estimated that between 69 and 71 million mushroom-shape cork stoppers will hop. In abroad markets, at this point almost 140 the target markets, a confirmed growth of Italian sparkling wines is foreseen, mainly TGI and branded, with about 250 million of uncorked bottles in 35 days, corresponding to more than 1.7 billion euros of export.