Chicago, 18 October 2024. Italian
sparkling wines have overtaken French bubbly in the USA not only
by volume but - for the first time - even by value. This
performance was revealed - on the eve of Vinitaly.USA (Chicago,
October 20-21) - by Uiv-Vinitaly Observatory analysis of
SipSource data for August, which will be presented during the
first overseas trade fair entirely dedicated to Italian wine.
This historic overtaking, as evidenced after monitoring
effective wine sales by US distributors, marks A change in
leadership in the sparkling wine segment, with Italy seeing its
market share improve to 35% against 31% for France and 28% for
American sparkling wines.
This milestone - as the Observatory pointed out - was achieved
above all thanks to the unstoppable performance of Prosecco,
which by no coincidence has simultaneously caught up with and
overtaken Champagne for the first time (28% vs 26% for their
respective market shares). Prosecco's success is reflected in
the performance of the entire range of Italian sparkling wines
that have now moved ahead of white wines in the Italian wine
offering mix. Today, sparkling wines cover 37% of Made in Italy
sales in the USA (35% by volume). Between January and August,
Italian sparkling wines were the only ones that managed to
increase sales volumes (+1.5% against an overall average for
sparkling sales down by 13%), driven not the least by the
growing popularity of cocktails. Even the neck and neck contest
between Prosecco and Champagne was one-sided this year: +2.2%
trend over the first 8 months of 2024 for the Italy's most
famous bubbles compared to -15.3% for the French symbol of
luxury.
The Navy Pier exhibition center in Chicago will host more than
230 companies over 13,000 sq.m. of exhibition space; more than
1650 labels of still and sparkling wine for tastings.
"We have high expectations for this trade fair," said Maurizio
Danese, Managing Director of Veronafiere, "which are especially
shared by the 230 Italian companies joining us here. Making
business easier is more than ever the keyword today. We are
convinced that Vinitaly.USA can become the landmark trade fair
for monitoring this market and a fundamental lever for
increasing profiled incoming operators attending Vinitaly in
Verona."
It is no coincidence that Vinitaly.USA with ITA-Italian Trade
Agency will see considerable attention paid to market issues,
with 2 days of focus events scheduled during the Wine Business
Forum.
Italian sparkling wines achieved sales of 936 million bottles
worldwide last year. Over the last 10 years, exports of Italian
sparkling wine around the world have practically tripled, with
growth in value in the USA of 351%, worth almost 500 million
euros in 2023.
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