Bubble-Issimo

Prosecco is breaking out of the Italian niche market and into the mainstream thanks to growth in cocktails and by-the-glass sales. Robyn Lewis reports from her balcony in Venice

The Life of a journalist is never an easy one. Take one weekend last month – yes, a working weekend – when I found myself knee-deep in elbow grease in Venice. There I was, sitting on the balcony at the Danieli Hotel in hot sunshine, sipping endless glasses of Prosecco and sampling the odd Bellini just to find out all about Italian sparkling wine for the good readers of this very publication – and I ended up with the most vicious sunburn. However, as luck would have it, all the hard work was worth it because Prosecco is a category worth talking about. Anecdotal evidence suggests that exports to the US, Brazil, Germany and Austria are up, though there were no current figures available at the time of writing from either the Prosecco Consortium or ICE. And the UK is beginning to catch on too.

 “Sales of Prosecco have certainly increased,” says Damian Carrington, who is marketing manager at UKbased Enotria, which represents Ruggeri. “We are seeing an increase of about 20% in sales of Prosecco January to May, compared with the same period last year. That seems to be coming from Italian pizza/pasta places and there is also a marked upturn in sales in the gastropub and independent retail sectors. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly why this is, but I have a feeling it is down to more than one factor – good prices, a good product and a renewed interest in Italy, perhaps.”

Bibendum has also, after taking on its first Prosecco, Bisol, last year, seen stellar results. “We have been overwhelmed by the success of the wines both as part of our specific focus on the Italian on-trade and in much more general terms across our whole customer base,” explains Ben Smith, communications manager at the agency. “Overall, consumers are realising that quality Prosecco is much more than a cheap alternative to Champagne and is a delicious drink in its own right. And its lightness and delicacy set it apart from the legion of Champagne wanabees. This message has been widely echoed in the consumer press, including Victoria Moore in The Guardian and Richard Ehrlich in The Independent on Sunday, which is also helping to raise the wine’s profile,” says Smith.

The team at Bisol in Italy is celebrating a fantastic year with volume sales up across the board – 150% in the UK, 120% in Switzerland, 140% in Brazil, 66% in China and 33% in the US. “Before, in the US especially, it was only consumed in Italian restaurants but now it has become a very fashionable drink and it’s in many trendy bars and restaurants,” explains international export and marketing manager, Giovanni Oliva. “In the US it has been through by-the-glass sales that we’ve really managed to push that growth and in the cocktail market too because of the price benefit over Champagne. The growth in Asian cuisine has helped as well, as it matches with Prosecco – simple, light refreshing and low in alcohol, it lends itself really well to this style of food.

“We do face problems though,” he admits. “The biggest of which is non-DOC Prosecco. There’s twice as much of that produced than DOC Prosecco – it’s grown everywhere in Italy and even in Brazil. The problem is that a lot of it is no good and that gives us a bad reputation. It’s also cheaper in many cases than DOC Prosecco, less than half the price, and the consumer thinks of Prosecco as a generic term and so it can come from anywhere. We need to encourage people to look for the detail, look for DOC on the label.”

And what better way to do that than taking a journalist and plying her with endless glasses of cold, gently fizzing Prosecco on hot weekends in Venice, one asks? picture courtesy of Dacotah Renneau, communque- communication by design