quicksearch
This year's Sparkling Report is a solid snapshot of bubbles worldwide, with 140 wines from outside Champagne tasted, from 18 countries and across a few dozen distinct wine regions.
Globally, wine consumption is in decline due to the struggling economy and the gaining momentum of the no-to-low alcohol movement. Whatever the cause, it's simple: fewer people are drinking, and those that are, are drinking less.
However, lower alcohol, fresh, fun, and celebratory sparkling wine (aside from pricy champagne) seems primed to bubble to the top, especially with accessible and affordable offerings. Across the sparkling category, quality continues to rise, and we see it constantly with Canadian wines. The sparkling category exploded during the pandemic (bubbles for troubles?), and except for Champagne, consumers seem to have accepted sparkling wine as a regular part of life.
Of course, fun and casual bottles, like pét-nat, open up the category to a younger demographic, while an increase in serious traditional method wines appearing from South Africa, Italy, Spain, New Zealand and beyond offer wine pros more options for pairing and promoting. Dosages keep dropping (yay), technique keeps improving (finally), and more and more bubbles keep appearing on shelves and lists (hurrah).
Below is our year in sparkling wine at GOW, in alphabetical order. For our detailed Champagne Annual, with 115 champagnes reviewed, click here.
