Christmas & New Year, there is a desire to uncork: 2 billion toasts with Italian bubbles expected

In Italy or abroad, at home or in a restaurant, at Christmas or New Year’s Eve, the celebrations will be record-breaking for Italian sparkling wines, with almost 2 billion toasts expected and a production value of 236 million euros. This is the estimate of the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV)-Ismea Observatory, in the usual focus on the consumption of Italian sparkling wines, never so high as this year. According to the Observatory, there are more than 316 million Italian bottles ready to be consumed during the holidays, 18.3% more than last year and 50% more than just five years ago. Of these, almost 3 out of 4 are destined for foreign countries, while 88 million bottles (+14%) are reserved for the festive season on Italian tables, in addition to imported sparkling wines, amounting to 5 million bottles, which have never been so numerous (+50% compared to 2020).
Bottling is driven by all the main Italian Denominations, with double-digit growth almost everywhere, from Prosecco Doc (+25%) to Asti, from Franciacorta to Conegliano Docg, from the mountain bubbles of Trento Doc to Oltrepò Pavese, from Alta Langa to Lessini Durello and Colli Asolani.
According to the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV)-Ismea Observatory, 2021 is the year of rebound for Italian sparkling wine, which will close the year with 900 million bottles and a strong increase in foreign sales (+20% in volume).
According to the analysis, good news also comes from internal consumption: according to Ismea/Nielsen, purchases in the large-scale retail trade in the first 11 months of 2021 are up 22% in volume and 26% in value compared to the same period in 2020. Overall, in 2021 the production value of Italian sparkling wines will, for the first time, exceed 2.4 billion euros; an increase to which is added a production volume that is constantly rising (+170% in the last decade).
Today, sparkling wines have come to represent 1/4 of total Italian wine exports in the world.