Spritz and end-of-year toasts: Italian bubbles exceed 1 billion bottles
According to UIV and Ismea, in 2024 growth of 8% for made-in-Italy sparkling wines, Prosecco in the lead, which at the end of the year will be uncorked more abroad (251 million bottles) than in Italy (104 million)
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With the estimated 355 million bottles that will be uncorked during the end-of-year festivities, Italian sparkling wines will exceed the quota of one billion bottles produced and sold. This is what emerges from the report on the consumption of sparkling wines at the end of the year prepared by the Wine Observatory of the Italian Wine Union and Ismea. Numbers that confirm the successful trend of Italian sparkling wines, a trend that seems to know no setbacks or economic crises or geopolitical tensions.
According to an analysis by Ismea and the UIV Observatory, toasts will be made with Italian sparkling wines more abroad (251 million bottles waiting to be uncorked, up 9% year-on-year) than in Italy (where they will stop at 104 million and an increase of 2% compared to last year).
The overall growth to 1.015 billion bottles (+8%) confirms the good health of this production segment not only with respect to still wines but also with respect to other alcoholic beverages from beer to spirits.
The exception is cocktails, whose growth also fuels that of sparkling wines, which are increasingly a constant in mixology.
"The "spritz trend"," explain Ismea and the UIV Observatory, which for the first time have tried to estimate the consistency of the phenomenon, accelerating in all the key areas of demand starting with the USA, according to our estimates has translated into 2.8 billion cocktails based on Italian spumante (in particular Prosecco and other Charmat), for a total of about 340 million bottles dedicated to the mix alone. This is a decisive factor for this year's exports, which are expected to grow, volume-wise, by 9%, thanks in particular to the umpteenth exploit of Prosecco, with the Doc and Asolo Docg, and the double-digit growth of other Charmat method sparkling wines" such as, for example, Asti Docg, which is increasingly experimented in cocktails.
The estimated contribution of Italian sparkling wines to cocktails also clarifies the now accomplished phenomenon of the seasonal adjustment of consumption. In fact, out of just over one billion bottles, one third, 355 million, are consumed during the end-of-year festivities, another third (340 million) in cocktails and another third as sparkling wine as is. In fact, two thirds are consumed throughout the whole year.
