COVID-19 slashes Champagne exports

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the sparkle out of Champagne in recent months, to such an extent that the industry is warning 100 million bottles may go unopened.

Production of the fizzy French export has also been slashed as a result of sales going flat.

FRANCE 24 reports the pandemic has meant vineyards have deliberately harvested fewer grapes and produced less Champagne in a bid to keep the price high and maintain its expensive exclusivity.

Maxime Toubart, president of the General Union of Champagne Producers, told the state-owned international television network: "When venues where people drink, such as cafes, hotels, and restaurants are closed, when weddings and music festivals are called off, people drink less champagne."

He added that producers would rather keep the price high than lower it in a bid to shift what they have in their cellars.

"Cheap Champagne could lead to the impression of being bad champagne," he said.

British national morning paper The i noted that, while the bubble appears to have burst for champagne, the industry is confident it will find a way forward.

Globally, sales of Champagne are expected to fall by around one-third this year, to around $3.9 billion. Last year, sales topped $5.9 billion.

The Champagne producers have also suffered because of uncertainty caused by the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Britain has the world's biggest appetite for France's exported Champagne and quaffed 17 percent of the 156 million bottles exported last year. The producers are also worried about comments made by US President Donald Trump about future tariffs on Champagne imports. The United States is the world's second-largest Champagne importer after Britain. And surveys indicate the drink is falling out of favor with young people.

In a parallel universe, 2020 might have been a bumper year because there has been lots of sunshine, the rain has fallen at the right moments and in the right quantities, and the harvest came early.

But Bernard Beaulieu, a Champagne producer and former head of the CGT Champagne winegrowers union, told the BBC: "COVID has left everything reeling. The fall in sales is staring us in the face. It's hastened a crisis that, if you ask me, has been a long time coming."