Two sparkling wine tasting flights are on offer at Stella's Wine Bar at The Post Oak Hotel in Houston, where rooms cost as much as $2,000 a night and the guests include celebrities and athletes. The Champagne flight, featuring three Billecart-Salmon wines, costs $60. The sparkling wine flight, which includes a Cava, Cremant, and Franciacortia, costs $24.
How much does it speak to Champagne’s sales woes in the US that the best-selling flight — regardless of the age, gender, or demographic of the guests — is the sparkling wine? And, says Julie Dalton, MS, the wine bar’s wine director and chef sommelier, the race is not even close.
“The Champagne flight is just not as popular as it used to be,” says Dalton. “And it’s all about price.”
Which, in a nutshell, summarises what’s happening to Champagne sales in the US. Yes, much of the wine business is suffering, but Champagne, once thought to be immune from any kind of slump, is especially suffering. In the 12 months ending November 2024, sales fell double digits in both volume and revenue, according to SipSource, which tracks United States wholesaler depletions. The drop in traditional restaurant sales and volume over that period is even worse than the overall on-premise decline.
“It’s definitely pushback about pricing,” says Pierre-Jules Peyrat, the export manager for Champagne Bruno Paillard, who says that retailers and restaurateurs are balking at wholesale prices that now trend higher than $50 a bottle. “Consumers are trading down, too, and because of that, they’re trading down on their expectations of quality.”
By the numbers
The SipSource data, usually considered among the most complete and reliable in the US, is more than depressing. Overall, Champagne sales volume dropped 10.4% in the 12 months ending in November 2024, while revenue fell 13.8%. The declines were 11.5 and 15% for the off-premise and 7.2 and 11% for the on-premise.
An even more telling fact is that Champagne sales in traditional restaurants, perhaps the category’s most important sales outlet in terms of marketing and prestige, dropped 11.4% in volume and 14.4% in dollars.
The drop in dollar volume, says Michael Bilello, EVP, Strategic Communications & Marketing and director, SipSource, for the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, is exceptional, given the higher prices.
“Notably, the decline in revenue is outpacing the decline in volume,” he says, “highlighting that the impact of trading down is not just reducing sales volume but also cutting into the higher price points that have traditionally supported Champagne's premium positioning.”
Which means trouble, and not only in the short term.
“This is a concerning trend for the Champagne category,” says Bilello. “The market appears to be under pressure due to consumer trading down, which has disproportionately impacted this premium-priced segment of the sparkling wine category.”
Click HERE to read the full article.