Dec. 30 – Italian bubbles reach a new milestone: only for the end of year festivities, 170 million bottles of Italian sparkling wine will be uncorked abroad, with Prosecco and Asti in the lead. For sparkling wine made in Italy, this is much more than a success; it’s a historical record. Coldiretti underlined the 24% increase in exported bottles revealed by ISTAT data for the first nine months of 2014. In the world – continues Coldiretti – there have never been been so many Italian bubbles as this year, in sharp contrast to the difficulties of the national economy. The result is that 2014 will close with the shipping abroad of a little less than 300 million bottles of sparkling wine, produced with both the Charmat and Classic methods, an all time record. This year, there’s more Italian sparkling wine than champagne around the world, as champagne only increased its exports by 6% during the same period. (red)
