Australia imports about 9 million bottles of champagne a year – the same volume as Germany (a country of 80 million) and Italy (almost 60 million) – giving this country of almost 27 million people a high per-capita consumption rate of premium fizz.

“Roughly one in every two adult Australians will consume a bottle of champagne in one year,” says John Noble, director of the Sydney-based Champagne Bureau Australia industry body.