US demand for sparkling wine growing, defying economic uncertainty, according to new report

American consumers will be drinking more sparkling wines from around the world than ever before in 2012, according to a new study published by Wine Intelligence.

A broadening of the consumer base, a greater range on offer, and an increasing desire among some consumers to make sparkling wine a regular rather than occasional treat are the main factors driving the trend, according to the report’s authors.

According to the Wine Intelligence USA Sparkling Report 2012, over 30 million Americans say they drink sparkling wine at least once a year. For the majority of this population their sparkling wine experience is confined to perhaps one or two glasses a year, on special occasions.

However, what appears to be driving the growth in sparkling wine is the segment of consumers – estimated at around 9 million, and female-dominated – who say they like to drink the bubbly stuff at least once a week. Many of these people say that sparkling wine is their favorite drink, ahead of still wine.

The market for sparkling wine in the USA has been growing rapidly in recent years. Volumes grew to around 36 million bottles in 2011, an increase of 9.3% on the previous year, according to data released in December by Symphony IRI.

The data in this new report is derived from Wine Intelligence’s own tracking research of US sparkling wine drinkers – the most recent wave of which was a survey of 1,055 American adults over the age of 21 who drink sparkling wine. This was conducted in November 2011, using quota sampling to be representative of all US sparkling wine drinkers.

While domestic production remains the dominant force in the US sparkling market, the big growth stories of 2012 would appear to be Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine, and Cava, from Spain. Prosecco has been growing rapidly in popularity and is now consumed at least once every 2 months by a quarter of the sparkling wine drinking population – a similar penetration to French Champagne. Cava is growing rapidly from a lower base and is benefiting from the recent surge in interest in Spanish cuisine.

The general picture for 2012 is one of continued growth, according to the report. While the majority of consumers surveyed don’t expect to change their bubbles-drinking habits over the next 12 months, 19% of survey respondents said they would be drinking more sparkling wine in 2012, versus 3% who said they would drink less.

Commenting on the report, Erica Donoho, USA Country Manager for Wine Intelligence said: “In a country, where the wine category is seeing exciting growth, it’s quite apt that the sparkling wine section is the jewel in this particular crown. It’s important to remember that Americans still don’t drink that much sparkling wine compared with consumers in other developed countries like Germany and the UK, but we can see a strong long-term growth trend establishing for domestic and particularly mid-priced imported sparkling wines in the years ahead.”

The USA Sparkling Wine Report 2012 is published by Wine Intelligence and available from the Wine Intelligence Reports Shop, priced at USD 2,410, GBP 1,500, EUR 1,890, AUD 2,360 * or 3 Report Credits.