Italian consumers popped an estimated 52 million bottles of spumante, or domestic sparkling wine, during New Year festivities, according to research by farmers' association Coldiretti.
This is 4 per cent more than in the same period in 2014, and represents the first growth for the sector in seven years.
The past year was, overall, a record year for Italian sparkling wine, with 242 million bottles opened in Italy and abroad during the festive season. Spumante exports between January and September jumped by 13 per cent to 190 million bottles.
An estimated 86 per cent of Italians said that they prefer spumante to French champagne, a 4-per-cent rise from the previous year. Sparkling wine produced by the Charmat method was ranked the best domestic bubbly by 95 per cent of Italian consumers, while the remaining 5 per cent said that they preferred wines made in the classic way, which involves a process that takes three years and results in a higher price.
Besides sparkling wine, the other must-have products on the table for Italians during New Year's Eve were cotechino and zampone sausages, enjoyed by more than two thirds of Italians (67 per cent) and often coupled by lentils (80 per cent).
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
