Is there a Prosecco Shortage?

There’s long been talk of a ‘Proseco shortage’, warning that supply for the Italian fizz can’t keep up with demand.

As demand grows throughout the world, with UK being the biggest market, is there a possibility that the geographical limits of Prosecco could mean there will be a limit on exports?

There were similar concerns last year which were swiftly debunked by the Prosecco DOC Consortium who said ‘there will not be a shortage.’ That was based on a fairly bad year (2014) for the Prosecco grapes due to bad weather.

However, 2015 proved to be a positive year for sparkling wines in Europe. In fact, there was record surplus of Prosecco after the 2015 harvest thanks to the fantastic growing conditions producing so many quality grapes. The surplus was stockpiled to keep up with demand.

Production for Prosecco has tripled in the last 6 years, mainly due to more vineyards being planted – now covering 50,000 acres in Italy.

Whether or not we reach a limit in supply of the popular Italian bubbly, there’s still plenty to go round as well as many other sparkling wines on offer.

Perhaps it’s also a good time to try some other quality fizz besides Champagne and Prosecco, such as English sparkling wine, Cava, Crémant and wines from around the world (particularly Spain, Australia, NZ, South Africa and America).

Facts about Prosecco