Italy is back to toasting like in 2019: 78 million caps of sparkling wine will be popped on holidays

There is no shortage of problems, with inflation, war, high energy prices and recession in sight. But in Italy and around the world there is a desire to toast, as before, more than before. So much so that, in Italy, in the thirty days around the holidays, between 75 and 78 million bottles of sparkling wine will be uncorked (in line with the 78.4 million of 2019), worth 280-290 million at production, which becomes 700 million at consumption. With New Year’s Eve alone seeing between 36 and 29 million bottles of sparkling wine popping, for a consumer value around 400 million. Early estimates from the Ovse-Ceves Sparkling Wine Observatory, led by Giampietro Comolli, say this. According to which there will also be further growth of +8.5 percent abroad, where between 225 and 240 million caps of Italian sparkling wines will be popping. And if Prosecco Doc consolidates its market leadership, but also Conegliano Valdobbiadene Docg (and also with the “Cartizze” cru) and Asolo Docg are growing, Alta Langa and Trentodoc also have positive signs, while Franciacorta is stable, also due to not exactly abundant productions in the latest vintages, with several wineries that have, for some time, run out of stock. But, the Observatory explains, the trend of sparkling wines from native grape varieties produced in areas where making sparkling wine is more the exception than the rule continues to grow.