Champagne sales down, but life still full of froth and bubble

The fizz has gone slightly flat on champagne, with sales dropping last year for the first time since the GFC.

The fizz has gone slightly flat on the nation’s love of champagne, with sales dropping last year for the first time since the global ­financial crisis.

But the good news is Australians bought 7.4 million bottles of the sparkling French wine last year — still the second-best sales result — although down on 2015’s record 8.1 million bottles.

Growth is still buoyant, says Tyson Stelzer, author of The Champagne Guide. “The fact that it has gone back down a bit this year is to be expected.”

Australia remains the sixth largest market outside France, behind Britain, the US, Germany, Japan and Belgium. Since 2009, local sales have risen by an average of 600,000 bottles annually.

“Since the global financial ­crisis, the world markets have only started to recover in 2015 — so for Australia to maintain record growth over those years is exceptional,” Mr Stelzer said. “The fact that we are slightly off the boil last year ... is no cause for alarm — our champagne drinking is still at a very high level.”

Globally, there were 306.1 million bottles of champagne sold last year, slightly less than 2015, with sales affected by problems in the French market and Britain’s Brexit vote leading to a devaluation of the pound.

“The diversification of cuvees is continuing in 2016 — 8.6 per cent more bottles of champagne rosé have been shipped than in the previous year, and prestige cuvees show an increase of 4.6 per cent,” said Thibaut Le Mailloux, communications director of Comite Champagne, the industry association. “Champagne consumers turn to ever rarer and more prestigious cuvees.”

But local buyers seem more influenced by discounting in large liquor chains, where brands such as Bichat sell for as little as $25 in some shops. “Australia is buying much higher levels of entry-level non-vintage champagne than other markets,” Mr Stelzer said.