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Sales are up for the bubbly

We’re just a few days away from ringing in the new year. A popular drink to toast at midnight is champagne. But other brands of sparkling wine are gaining in popularity and out-selling champagne.
Katherine enjoys a little sparkling wine now and then: “I just love the flavors and the textures that you get with the bubbles and such a wide range of grapes that you use.”
And she’s not alone. According to the LCBO, champagne which is a sparkling wine — and the name can only be used by wineries in France’s champagne region — represents only 30 percent of sales in Ontario. While 70 percent are made up of other sparkling wine brands.
Brian Schmidt is Vice President of Vineland Estate Wines: “We are certainly seeing sparkling wines increase in sales throughout Ontario for sure. I think more people are enjoying more sparkling wine outside of just celebrations, they can enjoy it with a meal, they can enjoy it between meals.”
Sparkling wine is made from the same grapes as regular wine. It can be dry, or sweet. The main difference is bubbles. Sparkling wine has bubbles, and you can taste it.
The bubbles are created during an extra fermentation process that regular wine doesn’t go through.
Schmidt: “Through that process, we create CO2, and with sparkling wine, and where ever the wine is being fermented, we capture those bubbles which creates the sparkling wine sensation.
And people are enjoying the bubbles. Sales last year including champagne were nearly $90 million dollars. This year sales are already $700,000 higher, and there are still a few more shopping days before new year’s.
“We prefer champagne but it’s a little more pricey than sparkling, a good sparkling does the job for us as well.”