Top 10 Selling American Sparkling Wines – Just In Time For 4th Of July

As on one of the most festive and patriotic days in the U.S. approaches, it is a good time to stock up on some American sparkling wine to celebrate. What better way to watch the 4^th of July festivities and fireworks, but with some sparkling bubbles in your glass.

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Americans Love Sparkling Wine Sparkling Wine Has Many Names Around the World

And given this is an American holiday, it is only fitting to drink sparkling wines made in the U.S. Fortunately there are many delectable brands from which to select, and you may not be surprised to learn that the top 10 best-selling American sparkling wines in the U.S. are some of the most popular brands on the market.

Table 1 shows the top 10 selling American sparkling wines by volume and dollar amount for the past year, ending June 10, 2023. The data is sourced from NielsenIQ.

“We can speculate that a few things play into the popularity of these brands,” reported Kaleigh Theriault, Beverage Alcohol Thought Leadership Manager with NielsenIQ, in an email interview. “They are ‘value’ and ‘mid’ priced brands that are highly promoted during key Sparkling Wine holidays, like Fourth of July, which shoppers recognize at the shelf.”

She adds that with the popularity of wine cocktails, that some of these brands are most likely being used as a mixer to creative a more festive drink to celebrate the 4^th of July and other holidays.

Sparkling Wine Cocktails to Celebrate 4^th of July

Indeed many of the large U.S. sparkling wine producers provide a variety of recipes on their websites to create delicious sparkling wine cocktails for 4^th of July. A few examples are below:

Korbel 4^th of July Sparkler – Ingredients: 1 oz. Finlandia® mango-flavored vodka, 2 oz. cranberry juice, 4 oz. KORBEL® Brut, Dried cranberries. Instructions: Pour vodka and cranberry juice into a shaker with ice. Shake, and strain into a champagne flute. Top with KORBEL. Garnish with dried cranberries.

Chandon Rosé Is My Jam – Ingredients: 4 oz Chandon Brut Rosé, 1 tbsp Raspberry Jam, 1/2 oz Simple Syrup, 1 oz Hibiscus tea, steeped and cooled, Fresh Raspberries. Instructions: Add jam, tea and simple syrup to shaker with ice. Shake. Strain mixture into glass over fresh ice. Top with Chandon Brut Rosé. Garnish with Raspberries.

Barefoot Fireworks Fizzle Cocktail – Ingredients: 500ml chilled Barefoot Moscato, 7-8 frozen mango chunks, 5-6 frozen peach slices, Ice cubes. Instructions: Blend peaches, mangoes and wine until smooth. Add more fruit or wine if needed to improve texture. Pour into glass over ice and garnish with a slice of peach.

Americans Love Sparkling Wine

Americans have long had a love affair with sparkling wine. Indeed, after the pandemic, sales of bubbles soared. According to a recent report by the International Wine and Spirits Research, sparkling wine was the only wine segment in the U.S. to achieve large volume growth between 2016 and 2021.

“In America we are a bubbly consuming people – think about Coca-Cola
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and soda pop,” stated Korbel President and Owner, Gary Heck, in a Zoom interview. “It is considered to be a beverage of celebration, even though some of us drink it all the time. In the end, sparkling wine is a happy beverage.”

Sparkling Wine Has Many Names Around the World

Interestingly, in the U.S. the term ‘champagne’ and ‘sparkling wine” are used interchangeably. However, technically the term ‘champagne’ should only be applied to sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France.

There are a few exceptions to this rule for American sparkling wineries. In 2006, a French-American trade agreement was established that allows any American sparkling producer who had used the term ‘Champagne’ on their bottle prior to 2006, to continue to do so, as long as they included a US geographical region to differentiate it. Therefore, some U.S. producers are legally allowed to use terms like ‘California Champagne,’ on their labels.

In other parts of the world, sparkling wine is called by different names. For example, sparkling wine made in other parts of France outside of the Champagne region, is labeled as ‘cremant.’ Italy has similar regulations, in that sparkling wine made in the region of Prosecco may be called ‘Prosecco;’ if made in the Franciacorta region, it may be called ‘Franciacorta’, whereas others parts of Italy generally use the term ‘spumante’.

In Germany, sparkling wine is called ‘sekt,’ in Spain it is called ‘cava,’ and in Mexico, it is called ‘espumoso.’ Whatever the term used, sparkling wine always seems a good choice for celebration, though it is becoming more common to also have a glass as an aperitif before dinner as well as other occasions.

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