PARIS — Europeans are finding fewer reasons to pop open a bottle of Champagne as another year of economic troubles and high unemployment saps the region’s appetite for the finer things.
While the latest industry figures show that sales might be on the wane in Europe, other markets, particularly Japan and the United States, are developing a taste for the bubbly.
In what is certain to be bad news for the vineyards, the French — Champagne’s largest market — are drinking fewer bottles. Sales of Champagne for the country were down 4.9 percent and 5 percent elsewhere in the 27-country European Union in the first nine months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011, according to CIVC, the national association of growers and producers of the wine.
Nineteen months of rising unemployment and growing fears that the worst is yet to come have taken their toll on France — nearly seven in 10 French are worried about their country’s future, according to a recent poll.
“The French are pessimists by nature,” said Antoine Chiquet, whose family has been producing Champagne for three generations and wine for eight. “We had a difficult election. We’re in an economy where Europe’s foundations are being questioned.”
Nonetheless, the country managed to drink 175.7 million bottles of Champagne from Nov. 1, 2011, to Oct. 31, 2012, according to CIVC — enough for nearly three bottles a year for every man, woman and child but about 10 million bottles fewer than the previous year. In contrast, the U.S. consumed enough sparkling wine for about 1.5 bottles per person in 2010, the latest figures available from the California-based Wine Institute.
But while the news out of France and Europe is bad, CIVC figures show export sales were up 3 percent in the first three quarters of the year. Top markets included the U.S., Japan and, to a lesser extent, China. A total of 19.4 million bottles of Champagne went to the United States and 7.9 million went to Japan — the only two countries outside Europe in the top seven export markets.
Lower prices are attracting new customers. Gone are the days when a bottle of Moet & Chandon went for $60 or more in Japan. These days, real Champagne can sell for as little as $25.
China is emerging as a potentially strong market for a glass of fizz, although the numbers remain small. In 2011, the latest figures available, it ranked 19th in export markets for Champagne, apparently because consumers are less discriminating about precise origins. According to an EU ruling, only sparkling wine made in a particular region in northeast France is allowed to carry the name Champagne. The United States makes some exceptions, as long as the labeling is clear.
“People enjoy the ‘boom’ moment of opening sparkling wine. It is fun. It offers a more festive atmosphere and it tastes good,” said Yu Ming, a 29-yearold who operated a bar in Beijing’s Sanlitun nightlife district until 2010. In China, he said, “people call all sparkling wine Champagne. They don’t care where it is from or whether the fermentation is inside the bottle.”
The sales manager at the BHG supermarket in a luxury shopping mall in Beijing confirmed that Champagne budgets are largely out of reach in China, saying most customers at the chic store will instead choose sparkling wine.
“The most expensive Champagne is [$1,250] a bottle at my store, but the most expensive sparkling wine is only [$43],” said the manager, who gave his surname, Hou.
Chiquet, whose label Gaston Chiquet produces about 200,000 bottles a year, said France and Europe generally will remain the most important markets for Champagne. But for the numbers to climb again “we’ll have to rediscover optimism.”
“Champagne remains a drink for celebrating the big events of life,” said Chiquet.
Information for this article was contributed by Yuri Kageyama, Fu Ting and Flora Ji of The Associated Press.
Business, Pages 25 on 12/29/2012