by Meininger’s Wine Business International

Sales of Asti Spumante rose by 11% in 2007 to reach 78.8m bottles. Nearly 80% of that volume is sold off-shore, where shipments were up 13%. “We could hardly hope for more,” commented Emilio Barbero, president of the Consorzio per la Tutela dell’Asti.

The most impressive growth was registered in Russia, were sales were up 48% to 7m bottles, making that country the third most important destination for Asti Spumante. Germany with 15.6m bottles (+5.2%) remains Asti’s largest market, followed by the United States, where sales stagnated at 12.4m bottles.

Shipments of Moscato d’Asti were also up dramatically. For the first time in history, sales cracked the 10m bar to reach 11.1m bottles.