Sparkling bucks decline

Italian supermarket wine sales fell again in 2025, but sparkling bottles kept growing and traditional-method fizz posted the strongest gains. (en.ilsole24ore.com) Circana data prepared for Vinitaly show 737 million litres of wine and sparkling wine sold through large-scale retail, down 3.4% from 2024, with spending slipping 1.1% to €2.3 billion. Average price per litre still rose 2.4% to €3.79. (en.ilsole24ore.com) Sparkling wine moved the other way: retail sales rose 1.5% in volume to more than 109 million litres and 1.2% in value to more than €750 million. Traditional-method sparkling wine, made with a second fermentation in the bottle, climbed 6.3% in volume and 4.9% in value at an average price of €18.44 per litre. (en.ilsole24ore.com) Prosecco remained the category’s anchor in supermarkets, with €392 million in sales and 53.7 million litres sold across Denominazione di Origine Controllata and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita labels, according to the same Circana research. Its supermarket volumes rose 2.6% from 2024. (winenews.it) The data were released ahead of Vinitaly in Verona, where Veronafiere and industry groups use supermarket sales as a readout of Italian drinking habits. Unione Italiana Vini says its wine observatory has been the official base for Vinitaly market studies since 2021. (winenews.it) (unioneitalianavini.it) The shift fits a longer change in Italian consumption, where shoppers buy less volume but pay more for selected bottles. In 2024, the same Vinitaly-Circana study found supermarket wine purchases down 1.3% while sparkling wines grew 4.2% in volume and 3.6% in value. (en.ilsole24ore.com) Still red wine remained the biggest supermarket segment in 2025 at more than 261 million litres, ahead of still white at 243 million litres. Within sparkling wine, white dominated with more than 98 million litres sold, versus 6.8 million for rosé and 2.5 million for red sparkling wine. (en.ilsole24ore.com) Higher shelf prices did not fully offset weaker demand. Bottled wines averaged €5.69 per litre in large-scale retail, up 2.1% from 2024, while wines with protected-origin labels still accounted for €1.9 billion of the €2.3 billion total. (winenews.it) Circana’s Virgilio Romano said the decline reflects a broader pullback in alcohol consumption across multiple countries, with Italy feeling it more sharply because wine is both a daily product and a national industry. In Italian supermarkets, that left sparkling wine as the part of the aisle still finding buyers. (en.ilsole24ore.com) (winenews.it)