Forget about prosecco, cava, or crémant, as champagne is the ultimate choice for sparkling wine lovers. In spite of the financial difficulties facing most UK households due to the rise in cost of living, it appears that the Irish population has not lost their fondness for luxury items. The value of champagne sales in Ireland has reached a record high, surpassing even the prosperous times of 2007, when the Galway Races’ Fianna Fáil tent was bustling and Ireland ranked as the 14th largest champagne importer globally.
According to the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, a French trade association that consolidates global export data, the champagne sales to Ireland peaked at €18.7 million in 2023. While this surge is partially due to increased prices, as the number of bottles sold is somewhat lower than in 2007, annual champagne sales volumes in Ireland have been on an upward trajectory, growing nearly 1% from 2022 to 2023.
Interestingly, this trend in Ireland contrasts with the global pattern. The industry body reports an 8.2% drop in bottle exports in 2023. Champagne sales out of France now make up nearly two-thirds of all sales, a significant rise from 45% a decade ago, with the biggest markets being the US, the UK, and Japan.
Tracking Irish champagne imports is somewhat analogous to the Economist’s famous Big Mac index. Even though it might be less complex, the sales figures reflect the fluctuations of the country’s economy.
Let’s not forget that the term ‘Champagne’ is exclusive to bottles produced in the Champagne region of northeastern France, with Rheims as the heartland, where renowned labels such as Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, and Tattinger have their vineyards. Contrarily, budget-friendly sparkling wines like cava, crémant or prosecco do not qualify as ‘champagne’.
Let’s return to the subject of the financial market. In the year 2000, there was a significant dip in jobless figures to a mere 4% and the prosperity scenario was about to hit its peak, triggering the era famously known as the ‘Celtic Tiger’. This was an exceptional achievement for a country with a relatively small populace.
Predictably, the austere period led to the bursting of the economic bubble as the financial crash penetrated various sectors of the market, causing a dramatic decrease in champagne purchases. By 2009, sales had dropped nearly 70% from the peak of 2007, amounting to merely 337,000 bottles per annum.
The following years witnessed a lull in the consumption of luxury drinks, so much so that in 2012, the Central Statistics Office excluded champagne from the goods’ basket used to ascertain the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a mechanism for determining inflation.
However, champagne was reintroduced to the index in 2017 as the market once again began to flourish and it has now been incorporated back into the CPI, along with “sparkling wine” which accounts for budget-friendly alternatives like prosecco and cava, among others.
That same year, Ireland was ranked as the 30th largest exporter having annual sales of 475,000. Since then, sales escalated, culminating in a near 800,000 bottles in 2023 amounting to €18.7 million, making Ireland the 26th largest exporter of champagne globally.
Nonetheless, given our newfound preference for inexpensive fizz, generously provided by Lidl and Aldi, it might be quite a while before Ireland resembles its glorious days of 2007.
The data also indicates a consistent increment in the per bottle champagne import tariff, from €14.60 in 2000 to €23.70 in 2023. This import fee only constitutes a portion of the total price usually paid by consumers; a large percentage of the additional expense is attributable to duties. The duties on champagne and sparkling wines are nearly twice as much as still wines, around €6.37 per bottle, which is one of the highest tariffs in Europe.
An interesting factor to note is that champagne isn’t simply for consumption. Although its more humble still counterpart has traditionally been considered a superb alternative investment, champagne, possibly due to its effervescence, and its lesser shelf life, hasn’t been categorised along with the likes of claret or Bourgogne.
However, this perception may be subject to change.
In the world of luxury goods, champagne has morphed into a substantial industry. Some of the most prestigious producers of champagne, including Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, and Dom Pérignon, are now under the ownership umbrella of LVMH – the company known for its portfolio of renowned fashion labels.
Liv-Ex, an international exchange for the high-end wine commerce, monitors the cost trend of the recent vintages of the top 13 most frequently traded champagnes, via the Liv-X 50 metric.
During the preceding summer, Sotheby’s, the auction house, conducted a champagne-only sale event in Paris, part of a liquidation arrangement for Taiwanese art collector Pierre Chen’s wine repertoire. Accumulating €1.35 million, this event indicated a monumental move from Sotheby’s as it was the inaugural instance wherein only champagne was featured on the beverage listing.
The spirit of bidding was lively; contrastingly, the auction house managed to nearly gather the total amount it collectively sold for in its past bids: less than $2 million, in one single day. Featured top sales incorporated Blanc de Blancs 1990 by Salon Le Mesnil, three magnums of which sold at more than two-fold its projected price at €25,000, and Dom Pérignon P3 1966 magnum, which traded for €23,750 – significantly surpassing its predicted value of €7,500-9,500.
Furthermore, Krug, a champagne producer also managed to slot into Sotheby’s top 10 auctioned producers the previous year – marking a debut for a champagne brand.
Champagne is progressively charming a fresh demographic of purchasers; Sotheby’s disclosed that women accounted for one-fifth of the buyers at the auction, whilst approximately one-fourth were below the age of 40.
However, its bubble of monetary gains could be on the verge of bursting. The Paris sale wasn’t purely a success; about one-fourth of the auctioned bottles didn’t find buyers. At the same time, Liv-Ex 50 reported a downturn of almost 14 percent year-on-year till June 2024’s end. As per this source, a portion of the champagnes unveiled in the past two years have since experienced depreciation, attributed partially to their lofty initial pricing.
Take into account the 2013 Dom Perignon. Unveiled in January 2023, with a price tag of £1,830 per dozen bottles, it has subsequently experienced a roughly 15 per cent depreciation in its worth. As per Liv-Ex’s data, it’s presently among the most affordable vintages up for grabs on the market.