The democratization of Champagne in Italy

After suggesting pairings with Italian cheeses for Champagne Day 2024, the Bureau du Champagne Italia is taking a further consistent step ahead of the 2025 edition, scheduled for October 24. On Monday, October 20, in Milan, it will present a pairing of fine French bubbles with cured meats to a “select number of journalists” (we will be there). “We will play at finding the ideal matches between several Italian cured meats and as many Champagnes, under the guidance of Champagne Ambassador Marco Chiesa,” is the Bureau’s intriguing premise. How else to interpret these choices if not as a sort of democratization of Champagne, in a market like Italy, which remains fundamental for exports?

Champagne brand communication in Italy seems to be shifting more and more, if not towards daily consumption—that would be too much!—at least towards a less elitist and more “popular” vision. Nothing wrong with that; in fact, it’s welcome. But it makes you smile to think that one of Italy’s most notoriously and historically popular wines is taking the opposite path. The reference is to Lambrusco: for the 2025 edition of World Lambrusco Day last July, the Protection Consortium aimed high. Very high, in fact. Mont Blanc, to be exact. With tastings for tourists and a masterclass led by Master of Wine Gabriele Gorelli, between Sarre Castle and the Pavillon Skyway Monte Bianco.

The feeling, in this Italian wine scene where planning seems to be a luxury for a very few, is that we are somewhat fumbling in the dark. The dandy takes off his suit and tie to go grab a sandwich. And the farmer wants to act like an American, wearing a ski suit. Jokes aside, the Champagne issue in Italy is becoming increasingly serious. This is, after all, the same market that produces Prosecco, the architect of yet another historic feat abroad.

Recent news: Prosecco beats Champagne in the United States, in both volume and value, albeit by a small margin. The data comes from the latest Vinitaly USA survey, which specifies that sparkling wine Made in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia is now worth half a billion dollars. And it has recorded an increase of 178% over the last seven years.

“Prosecco overtakes Champagne in the US: worth half a billion.” This was Winemag’s headline yesterday, documenting how Prosecco has taken a dominant role in the US market. Today, it represents 31% of Italian wine sales in the US, with a value exceeding $531 million. In the first seven months of 2025, Prosecco has already overtaken Champagne, holding a 30% share of sparkling wines compared to 28% for its French competitor.

This overtaking has symbolic implications. An Italian product, built and promoted through branding, logistics, and market presence strategies, manages to compete and prevail over a historic brand like Champagne. It is a strong signal of the changing global dynamics of wine, not just sparkling wine.

An overtaking consistent with the latest statistics. In 2023, according to The World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) data, France exported sparkling wine—under the heading “Champagne and sparkling wine”—for 209.973 million liters, with a value of approximately $4.9 billion. Also in 2023, according to the Comité Champagne, the trade association for the French appellation, approximately 172 million bottles of Champagne were exported.

These numbers confirmed an 8.2% drop compared to 2022, while remaining well above the 2019 level (156 million). Exports now represent over 57% of total sales for the appellation, compared to 45% ten years ago. “Champagne has returned to a steady pace,” they declared from Épernay at the time.

• Too much Champagne in the cellar: the goal is to reduce stocks
• Champagne: 271.4 million bottles shipped in 2024
• Champagne? No, English sparkling “blind”. The test of a Michelin-starred restaurant
• Champagne E-Learning: the course to become a Champagne expert
• Champagne Vranken and D&C Spa: new partnership for the Italian market
• Ruinart: Caroline Fiot new chef de caves

In 2024, the value of Champagne exports was estimated at €3.75 billion. This figure is down from previous years, in a context of global difficulty. The data comes from the Union des Maisons de Champagne. According to Wine Intelligence, the industry is reporting a 9.2% contraction in global exports, with 271.4 million bottles shipped in 2024.

These data show, on one hand, how Champagne remains a benchmark in the world of prestigious sparkling wines, but not immune to economic pressures. Inflation, falling purchasing power, geopolitical variables, and speculative phenomena are affecting demand and price.

Italy remains one of the world’s largest importers of Champagne. In 2023, it imported “Champagne and sparkling wine” worth just over $389 million. This positioning reinforces Italy’s role as a privileged “gateway” for the consumption and distribution of French bubbles.

The Bureau du Champagne’s proposal to organize pairing experiences with cheeses and cured meats for the latest Champagne Days seems, in fact, to follow a broader penetration strategy. It aims to link Champagne to typical Italian gastronomic consumption moments.

Is Champagne’s elitist character destined to fade? Impossible. But suggesting cured meats (and, before that, cheeses) as pairings means bringing the product closer to everyday Italian gastronomy, expanding the potential consumer base and breaking away from the rigid patterns of luxury.

The choice to suggest Champagne in pairing with cured meats is not mere gastronomic folklore. It is a strategic move: lowering cultural access barriers, making the product perceived not just as a celebratory luxury, but as part of the daily dialogue with Italian taste. In a context where Prosecco is gaining ground even in increasingly turbulent markets like the United States, the Bureau du Champagne Italia is making a move that is both defensive and offensive at the same time.

If this is democratization, it is a controlled democratization. Champagne is not conforming to Prosecco or the Italian method, but is choosing to have a more widespread impact on Italian drinking culture, transforming from an exclusive object into a protagonist even in less formal convivial moments.

The balance is fragile. It will have to preserve identity, quality, and the perception of value, while at the same time growing in critical mass. Only in this way can Champagne remain a global sparkling wine and, at the same time, take root in the daily food and wine life of a country that continues to be essential for its exports. The right move? Only time will tell.