The French love Prosecco: in 2019, exports to the Hexagon will be up 8%. The Wine Monitor study

The relationship with the French cannot certainly be simplified into a simple “Italy against France”, because it would not do justice to the cultural similarities that bind us historically, and, especially in terms of consumption, it would not photograph the reality of the facts. Yes, because France, home of great wines and the prestigious bubbles of Champagne, is also a passionate lover of Prosecco, the most famous Italian sparkling wine in the world: after having included it, almost a year ago, in the famous Le Petit Robert, the most famous French dictionary, France has become the third country of destination for the sparkling export of the Belpaese, after the United Kingdom and the United States. To say it, the data of the study signed by Nomisma Wine Monitor, made for Prosecco Doc, and told, to WineNews, by the research manager Denis Pantini.
“The long wave of sparkling wine consumption and imports continued also in 2019: in the first 11 months of the year, shipments registered a + 8% increase in shipments in terms of value, against 3% of still wines on the same period - explains Pantini - and this is the first fact that serves to draw the world panorama of Italian bubbles, which has always been the driving force of Italian wine exports. However, it is important to underline that Prosecco is always the engine that gives impetus to the sector”. Motor, which also in the period January-October 2019 gave a boost of + 12%, and which in France recorded a growth of 35%. “To give two numbers - continues Pantini - of reference: in the first 11 months of 2018 11 million bottles of Prosecco were exported, while in 2019, in the same period, were 17 million”.
The numbers, therefore, actually deny the contrast between Champagne and Prosecco, making it clear in fact how not only coexistence is possible, but it is also well-liked and sought after, in a mature and conscious market like the French one, which thanks to the love for Prosecco has surpassed the historical importer of Italian wine which is Germany, making it fall to fourth place in the ranking of the main destinations of the wine expeditions of the Belpaese. And the coexistence is due precisely to the substantial difference between Champagne and Prosecco: “I would never put them on the same level - says Denis Pantini - they are two extremely different products. In our research, we also asked consumers across the Alps how they would describe Prosecco, and it emerged that it is considered a symbol of fashion, conviviality, fun, and quality. Prosecco, in France but also in the world, is now the symbol of the aperitif, especially the glamorous one, and - he concludes - it is the wine of young people”.