By definition, champagne is a product of France. In order to be called champagne, a sparkling wine must be made with grapes from the Champagne region of France and must meet an additional set of requirements imposed by the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVIC). The United Kingdom is the largest importer of champagne, followed by the United States and then Germany. U.S. imports of champagne started off the first decade of the new century averaging 18 million bottles annually, it peaked at 23.2 million bottles in 2006 and fell thereafter for three consecutive years. In 2010, champagne imports to the United States saw a small increase from prior year imports.

Today’s market size is the estimated total number of bottles of champagne exported by France in 2011.

Geographic reference: Worldwide
Year: 2011
Market size: 335 million bottles
Source: Tiffany Hsu, “Champagne Sales Surged in 2011, Booze Headed for 2012 Boost,” January 1, 2012, Los Angeles Times, available online here.
Original source: Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne and the Champagne Bureau
Posted on December 27, 2012