Sparkling wines, export in the Us drops: -27% in value for Italian bubbles in first quarter 2026

That the wine market got off to a slow start is not exactly a surprise, also considering how 2025 ended. A trend confirmed, however, by the figures for the first two months of 2026 for Italian wine, even though in Italy February showed growth compared to January, according to Istat data analyzed by WineNews. This resulted in a total value of 1 billion euros in cumulative terms for February 2026, -13.3% compared to the same period in 2025. In terms of volumes, February 2026 reached 158 million hectoliters, -3.2% compared to the first two months of 2025. The performance of the United States weighs heavily (-27.48% in value and -11.5% in volume), by far the leading trade partner, but which is reducing its wine imports, from Italy as well as from other producing countries, and this also applies to the sparkling wine sector.
According to data by the U.S. Department of Commerce, analyzed by Del Rey Analysts of Wine Markets (Awm), and reported by WineNews, 2026 began with a very disappointing trend for international wine sales in the United States. The overall decline in U.S. wine imports between January and March 2026 was -32.1% in value and -20.6% in volume. Purchases fell by nearly one-third in value, dropping from 1.84 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2025 to 1.249 billion dollars in the same period of 2026. This decline appears to have been caused by new tariffs, current uncertainty, and fluctuations in consumption and inventory levels.
Within the U.S. import landscape, sparkling wines recorded a slightly smaller decrease than bottled still wines in value (-28% compared to -34.6%), but a slightly greater drop in terms of bottles (-22.5% against -19.7%), due to their relatively more stable average unit price in dollars. The United States imported 38 million liters of sparkling wine in the first quarter of 2026, for a total value of 307 million dollars, at an average price of 8 dollars per liter (corresponding to 50.6 million bottles, ed).
Among suppliers, all major global wine producers are struggling in the North American market (with the exception of New Zealand for still wines), although there are some differences. Italian exports to the United States, as far as sparkling wines are concerned, reached 121.59 million dollars in the first quarter of 2026 (-27%) for 32.67 million bottles (-23.2%). France, on the other hand, totaled 167.92 million euros in sparkling wine exports in the first quarter of 2026 (-26.7%), but the drop in volumes is lower than Italy’s (-6.7%), for a total of 12.63 million bottles purchased by the United States. France, in particular, according to Del Rey Awm, seems to be holding up much better than other producing countries in the North American market thanks to a substantial reduction in the declared average unit price (-21.4% for sparkling wines). This decrease in prices has also affected Italy, although to a significantly lesser extent (-5%). Spain is the country recording the largest losses. In the first quarter of 2026, sales of Spanish sparkling wines in the United States slowed by -50.1% in value to 12.6 million dollars and by -49.4% in volume, with 4.1 million bottles sold on the U.S. market. Compared to France and Italy, Spain has kept its prices relatively stable at 4 dollars per liter (-1.4%).