Prosecco dominates festive fizz sales at major retailers

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 11 December, 2014

Sales of Prosecco are fizzing across the major retailers in the run-up to Christmas, with Tesco predicting one in three bottles of sparkling wine sold this year will be the Italian favourite.

But Champagne is not being neglected, as consumers are more prepared than ever to fork out for a special bottle - Waitrose has seen sales of its own brand Blanc de Blancs Champagne rocket 258%.

In a supermarket first, Tesco is also selling Methuselahs - the equivalent of eight standard bottles - of Lanson White Label Champagne with a price tag of £499 in selected stores.

Champagne Tesco is stocking methuselahs of Lanson White Label Champagne this year, rrp £499

Waitrose says the first nine days of December 2014, versus the same period last year, have seen Champagne up 16%, with own label driving the charge, up 40% year-on-year. Its Blanc de Blancs is the stellar performer, having recently won a Good Housekeeping award.

Half bottles of Champagne are up 24%, rose sparkling wine has grown 42%, while overall sparkling sales are up 46%, with Prosecco up 58% and English fizz up 89%. Online the picture is even brighter, with Champagne sales on waitrosecellar.com up 110% year-on-year and up 120% on other sparkling wines.

At Tesco, Laura Jewell MW said: "Brits absolutely love Prosecco and there is no sign of it slowing down in the near future. Their love affair with the Italian sparkling wine has only intensified this year, with demand so strong that one in every three bottle of sparkling wine bought this Christmas, including Champagne, is set to be Prosecco."

Sparkling wines are on a hot streak and it is no surprise they will be in high demand leading up to the Christmas holiday period

It says its sales are up 50% year-on-year, with five of the top six sparkling wines by value and volume being Prosecco. It has sold over 12 million bottles in the past year, with Plaza Prosecco being the bestseller - it sold over 4.5 million bottles. Pignoletto - the Italian sparkler new to the retailer's Finest range, has sold over 100,000 bottles since it was first launched.

Over at Naked Wines, managing director Eamon FitzGerald, told Harpers.co.uk that people are "turning to fizz this Christmas more than ever before". He said it sells three bottles of Prosecco for every bottle of Champagne, and in the run-up for Christmas Prosecco has accounted for 71% of its sparkling wine sales.

"Having said that we've seen a 13% increase in Champagne sales - now that former Champagne Ruinart winemaker Jean Phillipe Moulin is on board producing an exclusive range of Champagne for our Angel customers," FitzGerald added.

Cava sales are also up 28%, while sales of English bubbly have grown 41% on last year.

Over at rival online retailer, Virgin Wines, the group says it has sold over 100,000 bottles of Champagne and sparkling wines in 2014, and predicted that figure would "go through the roof this month" as consumers stock up for Christmas.

Its Le Dolci Colline Prosecco NV at £9.99, saw sales grow by 134% year-on-year, making up 55% of all Champagne and sparkling wine sales within the business.

Laithwaite's said that Prosecco is outselling Champagne to the tune of 65:35, although by value "Champagne still has it by a nose".

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