The EU records the first drop in sparkling wine exports in a decade as champagne loses wine

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU exports of sparkling wine to the world fell for the first time in a decade last year, Eurostat said on Friday, largely due to a sharp drop in champagne sales, although prosecco and cava sold well. .

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the world trade in wine by 2020, the last year for which data is available, as restaurants and bars have been closed for a long time.

The champagne was the hardest. Outside the EU, sales of the famous French sparkling wine fell by more than 20% in volume to 66 million liters in 2020, from almost 84 million liters the previous year.

This largely led to an overall 6% drop in EU sparkling wine exports compared to 2019 compared to last year, according to Eurostat data.

EU exports fell from a peak of 528 million liters in 2019 to 494 million liters in 2020, still almost double the level recorded in 2010.

Of the three main categories of sparkling wine exported from the EU, only champagne experienced a significant drop in volume.

Prosecco, which is largely exported, had sales of 205 million liters outside the EU in 2020, compared to almost 207 million liters in 2019.

Cava, which is produced in Spain, countered the trend by increasing exports from outside the EU by more than 10%, and by 2020 it was approaching 58 million liters, replacing champagne selling the second largest sparkling wine in the EU outside the 27-nation bloc.

Total sales of champagne, including in the EU, fell by 18% last year in terms of volume, according to the CIVC producer group.

Despite a drop in sales volume, vintage champagne has won a raffle for investors this year, surpassing all major financial market assets from Big Tech to bitcoin. Salon le Mesnil’s 2002 harvest has grown by more than 80% in 2021 on online platforms.