It doesn't always have to be champagne - in France, people are increasingly turning to crémant instead, whose sales are growing strongly in contrast to almost all other wines in the country.
Last year, French sparkling wine recorded an increase in sales of 5.7% and 6.7% in the first quarter of 2024, reported the newspaper Les Échos, citing data from the market research company Circana IRI.
"Sales broke a new record in 2023 in a difficult situation for the wine industry. This is the third consecutive year of growth and a new historic year for the industry," the president of the National Crémant Producers Association, Edouard Cassanet, told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, sales of champagne are declining, falling by 8.2% in 2023 and by around 14% since the beginning of the year.
Several reasons are given for the success of crémant. In view of inflation and purchasing power problems, sparkling wine from other regions is a cheaper alternative to champagne for many people in France.
A crémant is available for between €10 and €20 ($11 to $22), whereas a bottle of champagne costs between €24 and €34 on average, depending on the quality.
In addition, the enormous success of the Italian Aperol Spritz has awakened interest in sparkling wine in general, said Cassanet.
"Prosecco has multiplied sales of sparkling wine and attracted new customers for crémant," he said.
Within five years, sales of crémant rose by 20% to 108 million bottles.
Germany is also contributing to this success story. Almost half of French crémant production is exported, particularly to Denmark, Norway and Germany, as reported by Les Échos.
More and more winegrowers in France are now reserving a proportion of their land for the production of crémant, said the association president. The positive trend in sparkling wine is very convenient for them, as sales of other wines are declining.
In the classic wine country of France, people are increasingly turning to beer or giving up alcohol altogether.