It was another drop for Champagne in 2025, albeit a small one of 2%, taking the region’s total annual shipments in the past year to 266 million bottles, representing the lowest level of the past 20 years (except for the anomalous 2020, when the first wave of Covid-related lockdowns saw shipments drop to 254m bottles from almost 300m the year before).
Having hit this low level in 2025 – which comes from a post-pandemic high of 326m bottles in 2022 – the key players in the region are of course hoping for a rebound, but, despite cautious optimism, such are the challenges for Champagne, significant growth is not being forecast by anyone db spoke to in the appellation during a visit last month – which was of course before the start of the war in Iran.
Indeed, Champagne Pol Roger president Laurent d’Harcourt told db on 12 February that the region should be “pleased” to reach the same level of shipments as 2025, before noting that it was the appellation’s collective intention to get back to around 270m bottles in 2026 – the total achieved in 2024.
Acknowledging the rapid nature of the decline since 2022, he said, “Champagne lost 55m bottles in two years, but maybe we were too high?” before adding, “Champagne has resisted pretty well,” referring to the difficult trading conditions for everyone in the drinks industry, and beyond.
Desirability assured
A similar view is held by Champagne Bollinger CEO Charles-Armand de Belenet, who told db that such is Champagne’s “desirability”, the product sells “with the right promotional strategy”, and hence its strong performance relative to a wine region such as Bordeaux that seems to be struggling despite price discounting.
Looking to the year ahead, however, he told db in mid-February, “For the whole region, I don’t forecast any rebound in 2026, but the good news is that the stock level in the market is quite low compared to [this time] last year.”
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