France, home of great wines and prestigious Champagne, is also an ardent lover of Italy’s Prosecco, the most famous Italian sparkling wine in the world. After including it, almost a year ago, within Le Petit Robert, the most famous French dictionary, France has become the third destination country for Prosecco exports, after the UK and the United States.
According to Nomisma Wine Monitor data, this long wave of consumption and imports of sparkling wines continued in 2019. In the first 11 months of the year, sales grew by 8% in terms of value, compared to 3% of still wines.
Prosecco is acting like an ‘engine’ that gives impetus to the whole Italian wine sector. In the period January-October 2019, the most famous Italian sparkling wine gave a boost of +12%, and in France it recorded a growth of 35%. In the first 11 months of 2018, up to 11 million bottles of Prosecco were exported, while in 2019, the figure reached 17 million in the same period.
CHAMPAGNE AND PROSECCO: TWO ‘COMPATIBLE’ EXCELLENCES
The figures, therefore, disprove the contrast between Champagne and Prosecco, making it clear that coexistence is not only possible, but also well-liked and sought after in a mature and conscious market like the French one. In France, Prosecco exports have in fact overtaken a historic Italian wine importer such as Germany, bringing it down to fourth place in the ranking of the main destinations of Italian wine.
The coexistence is due to the substantial difference between Champagne and Prosecco. “Personally I would never put them on the same level – says Denis Pantini from Nomisma – as they are extremely different products. In our research, we also asked French consumers how they would describe Italy’s most famous sparkling wine. It turns out that it is considered ‘a symbol of fashion, conviviality, fun and, obviously, quality’. Prosecco, in France as well as in the rest of the world, is now the symbol of the aperitif, especially the glamorous one, and in fact it is the wine of young people.”