Sparkling Wine Sales Pass 1 Billion

According to wine sales experts, 2016 is turning out to be a bumper year for sparkling wine consumption, with sales set to increase even further over the next few years.

According to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), sparkling wine sales have passed the £1bn mark for the first time this year, with four months of 2016 still to come.  They estimate that 106.7 million bottles of bubbly will have been sold through UK retailers by the end of the year – double the amount sold in 2012.  Prosecco accounts for over half of the UK sparkling wine retail market.

The International Wines and Spirits Record (IWSR) forecast that the popularity of fizz, particularly Prosecco, will drive a 1.8% increase in UK wine consumption between 2015 and 2019.  They predict that UK consumption of sparkling wine will rise by 13% between now and 2019, in contrast to a o.6% increase in consumption of still wine.  They also estimate that global sparkling wine consumption will go up by 7.4% over the same period.