By Andy Young
New research from Wine Intelligence has revealed that the Australian sparkling wine market is continuing to slow, but imports are now taking an increased share.
The Sparkling Wine in the Australian Market 2015 report examines year-on-year consumer behaviour within the sparkling wine category. The report found that overall volumes are declining and domestic sparkling wine is showing particular signs of slowing.
Imported sparkling wines, such as Champagne, Cava and New Zealand sparkling, are all being drunk more frequently than two years ago, but the global trend for Prosecco is being mirroed in Australia; more than half of sparkling wine drinkers now consume Prosecco.
While volumes are down the report found that the number of sparkling wine drinkers in Australia remains stable at around 8.2 million adults, or around 50 per cent of those who consume alcoholic beverages.
Natasha Rastegar, Wine Intelligence country manager for Australia, said: "There are signs from our research that sparkling wine is becoming a more accessible drink to choose for informal occasions. Nevertheless, the popularity of other alcoholic drinks, namely cider, for these occasions also remains high.
“There are also some interesting opportunities for Cava producers—while this is still a relatively small part of the sparkling market, it is attracting consumers who are younger, high-spending, and more male, which is notable in a category traditionally targeted towards women.”
Although Prosecco is particularly popular sparkling wine the report also found that Cava is popular among the younger, higher-spending crowd.