Consumers ditch Champagne for sparkling wine
Consumers are increasingly turning to sparkling wine rather than Champagne as their celebratory tipple of choice, according to new research from Mintel.
Volumes of sparkling wine have increased 44% since 2002 and 42 million litres of the intoxicating stuff was sold last year, the study revealed.
In comparison, Champagne sales have increased by 24% over the same five-year period and stood at 29 million litres last year.
Mathilde Dudouit, senior market analysts at Mintel, said: "Champagne used to be the only accepted choice and sparkling wine was simply seen as a second rate imitation but sparkling wine growers have now turned the market around by producing consistently good quality wines."
In value term sparkling wines sales reached £385m in 2007, up 27% on 2002 figures.
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By Chris Druce
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