When it comes to celebrating, expect more bubbly this year

Eric Puffer of Schenectady restocks bottles of sparkling wine Thursday at Freemans Bridge Road Wine and Liquor in Glenville.

Champagne sales rose in 2011, but it is newer, lower-cost varieties that are driving the overall increase in the sparkling wine market, Capital Region merchants say.

According to the Washington-based Champagne Bureau, shipments of sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France were up more than 20 percent in the first six months of 2011, compared to the first six months in 2010.

This trend has continued for the rest of the year, said Mark O’Callaghan, owner of Exit 9 Wine and Liquor Warehouse in Clifton Park. He says the gains aren’t just in Champagne, though, the type of sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region in France and select areas of America given the distinction through recent treaties.

Regarding the growing sales of sparkling wines in 2011, O’Callaghan said, “One of the biggest reasons is the popularity of Prosecco.” He described Prosecco as a lighter type of sparkling wine that is lower in alcohol content and has grown through word of mouth.

“Most people don’t like the taste of traditional Champagne,” he said. “You look at a wedding, people are going to raise their glass and put it right down.”

He expects that his sales of sparkling wines before New Year’s Eve won’t be as high as before Christmas, as people tend to drink the sparkling wines differently, depending on the holiday. O’Callaghan said he feels New Year’s Eve just requires a bottle for a toast, but Christmas is more of a social drinking holiday, with people mixing orange juice and sparkling wine to make mimosas.

Accompanying the rise of Prosecco is the sparkling wine Moscato, according to O’Callaghan. “The three big wine trends right now are Prosecco, Moscato and dry or blended reds,” he said.

This was echoed by Dan Maggs, owner of Freemans Bridge Road Wine & Liquor in Glenville, who said Prosecco and Moscato have driven his sale of sparkling wines.

Years ago, people only had the option to get higher-end Champagnes at high-end prices, he said, but “Now you have sparkling wines in the $10 and $12 range.”

He said that price difference is a big decision maker for people who plan on consuming more than a toast of Champagne, like when people want to make mimosas. “If you had to sum it up in theory, the consumption of sparkling wine has simply expanded. It has become an everyday wine.”

“The sales of sparkling wines are on the increase. They’re inexpensive and fun,” he said. “You add all this up, and the typical mind-set is that when we celebrate anything in life, we do it with sparkling wines.”

And the celebration includes a variety of options, as Maggs said on just one display he has 15 to 20 sparkling wines. “There are no longer just four options,” he said.

Part of the attraction is the taste of sparkling wines like Moscato and Prosecco. “People who don’t like wine drink this,” he said. “On New Year’s Eve, I will drink a bottle of Prosecco.”

Joe D’Andrea, owner of D’Andrea Liquor Store in Saratoga Springs, said he has seen an increase in sales of sparkling wines this Thanksgiving and Christmas, compared with the holidays last year. “I’m selling more Champagne and the whole category,” he added.

Moscato was the type of sparkling wine that he credited for the growth.

D’Andrea said this overall trend hasn’t been accompanied by increased sales of other alcohol and noted that sparkling wines across all prices have become more popular.

There could be more changes in the sparkling wine market in 2012, as O’Callaghan said his store is being warned by importers that the supply of Champagne will be tight in the future.

“From what we’re hearing, there is going to be a major price increase in true Champagnes because of the demands in foreign markets,” he said, citing China and Brazil as growing consumers.

Regardless of how the market fluctuates in the future, Maggs wants people to continue to find reasons to celebrate with sparkling wines.

“We don’t celebrate enough,” he said. “We all have it pretty good and need to open a bottle of sparkling wine and celebrate something.”