As the bubble craze continues, wineries across the country are embracing the trend.
By Kathleen Willcox
Certain things sell as much for their image as they do for their inherent merits.
Forgetting taste for a moment, Champagne has caché … if you’re a dino-drinker of a certain age and possess a very particular set of socioeconomic aspirations.
For everyone else, especially the young (and, in the world of wine, that means anyone aged between 21 and 55 or so), fizz is where it’s at for everything from parties to Tuesday dinner — but that no longer necessarily means just Champagne. Looking at the numbers, it has recently seemed to be anything but.
Sales of Champagne declined an alarming 9.2% last year, with exports dropping 10.8% overall, according to Comité Champagne. The last time demand was this low was 2002, following economic turmoil and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But U.S. sales of Prosecco (in 2024, especially) were phenomenal.
Last year, there was a 17% increase in exports to the United States of Prosecco DOC, with even more impressive numbers for Prosecco DOC Rosé, sales of which surged 20% year-over-year.
In the U.S., sales of sparkling wine (made in both the traditional Champagne and the Italian method) are selling far more briskly than their still counterparts. And there are a number of other benefits that are making an ever-increasing number of producers get into the fizz game.
Young People Want Bubbles With More Flexibility
Almost half (45%) of wine drinkers want to explore alternative sparkling wines, according to research from global drinks data provider IWSR.
Rack & Riddle, a Healdsburg, Calif.-based custom crush focused on sparkling wine, was founded in 2007 with two clients producing 85,000 cases of wine. It now has more than 425 clients producing 850,000 cases. Clearly, it has been on the front lines of this expansion.
And it’s just launched a new trademarked category of sparkling wine, CALSECCO, that the team believes will be foundational to the evolution of American sparkling wine. Made from California-grown grapes and crafted in the traditional Italian method, Rack & Riddle clients are the only producers currently permitted to use the trademarked name on their bottle.
“We started producing methode Champenoise only, and right now that still accounts for about two-thirds of our business,” says Rack & Riddle senior director of marketing, Kim Kulchycki.
“But our Executive Director of Winemaking, Manveer [Sandhu], went to Italy on vacation and came back determined to make Italian-method sparkling wine,” says Rack & Riddle’s Director of Business Development Cynthia Faust. “We realized that no one was making premium Italian-style sparkling wine in California, so we decided to go for it.”
That was 2022, and Faust says they have worked hard to refine their production and growing methods.
“We introduced our first proprietary wine, CALSECCO, [at the 2025 at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium],” Kulchycki says. “We think millennials, younger people and consumers overall want something different. Prosecco has become popular for a reason. It’s fruitier, it’s at a lower price point, and it’s broadly appealing for any kind of occasion.”
The pair is bullish on domestic sparkling wines’ overall growth, with predictions that CALSECCO will lead Rack & Riddle’s steady, continued 10% growth.
Virginia is for (bubble) lovers
In Virginia, producers are finding that sparkling wine is reaching a broader audience and also providing growers with increased flexibility in a challenging climate. George Hodson, general manager of Veritas Vineyard and Winery and president and principal of Flying Fox Vineyard in Charlottesville, helped co-found the Virginia Sparkling Company. In 2020, the company began offering custom sparkling wine production to the 300+ wineries and vineyards in the state.
“Right now, we produce a few thousand cases for ourselves and an additional few thousand for other wineries that want to be able to offer methode traditionale sparkling wine but don’t want to invest in the equipment and labor required to make it happen in their cellars,” Hodson explains.
Veritas has grown its own sparkling wine sales by about 8% year over year, which drastically outpaces the rate of growth for its still wine lines.
Randy Phillips, co-founder of Cave Ridge Vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley, agrees.
“I started noticing that sparkling wine was taking off around the world a decade ago, so I decided to go for it,” Phillips says, explaining that he invested in equipment to make wine in the Italian style. “Prosecco sales keep rising because it’s fun and approachable, and it is available at a price point that consumers feel comfortable with.”
Currently, Cave Ridge has a roughly 8,000 total annual case production; about 25% of that is now sparkling.
“It sells better than our wines, growing about 10% year over year. It also allows us enormous flexibility in our vineyard management,” he explains. “In challenging years, we can still harvest grapes for sparkling wine and know that they’ll turn out well.”
Sale$ Speak for Themselves
In Oregon, as winemakers across the state have been getting into sparkling wine in recent years, the sales — and accolades — speak for themselves. In 2018, in the Willamette Valley alone, there were close to 20 sparkling producers. Today, there are around 99.
According to the 2023 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report, sales of sparkling wine are surging, from 4% of all cases sold in 2022 to 9% in 2023. The report also shows that around 10% of Oregon’s more than 1,100 wineries are making sparkling wine — a 60% increase year over year.
And in addition to carrying more than their weight in sales, sparklers are grabbing the lion’s share of critical acclaim. All four Willamette Valley Wineries included in the Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines last year were sparkling, a first. And Roco 2013 RMS Brut Delayed Disgorgement earned the list’s coveted top spot.
At Vinovate Custom Wine Services, managing partner and winemaker Bryan Weil says he sees an incredible opportunity in Oregon sparkling wine, which is why he stopped making top-ranked wines at Alexana Winery in the Dundee Hills to help build out a custom crush and sparkling wine facility. Since opening in 2023, Weil says Vinovate has snagged about 40 clients, 30 of whom contract them for sparkling wine. Some clients are the creme de la creme of Oregon sparkling wine (Knudsen Vineyards, Bellingar Estates).
“I think enabling more winemakers to create a line of sparkling wine will help all of us in the Oregon wine industry,” he says. “It’s a huge investment in equipment, and by offering in-house services and going out on the road with our mobile tirage line, we are helping more winemakers get their incredible sparkling wines out there. Right now, a lot of our clients are only offering sparkling wines in their tasting rooms, but I see that changing, especially as our sparkling wines get recognized in the wider world.”
All styles embraced
David Lauer, who manages sales at Bryn Mawr Vineyards in Salem, Ore., says the winery’s trajectory in sparkling wine reflects the state’s broader patterns — and, perhaps, its future.
“In 2018, we launched a sparkling program with three releases,” Lauer says. “We had a Blanc de Noirs that was a traditional method, and was just released [in 2025] because of the extended tirage. We also had a Pet Nat that we ultimately stopped making because it required so much work; it didn’t make sense financially even though we loved it.”
The biggest coup, and surprise, Lauer says, has been a force-carbonated wine that was initially a 100-case release and is now up 1,000 cases in annual production.
“We pivoted and made it a non-vintage after a few years. We found that [the process] really lent the finished wine an incredible toastiness and flavor that you normally get with traditional method sparkling,” Lauer says. “But because it’s force-carbonated, we can still sell it for $35 retail.”
The luxurious flavor and attainable price point make it one of their consistent top-sellers in the tasting room.
“We’d like to find a bigger audience for it at wholesale, and I think the price point and flavor will make that possible in the next few years,” Lauer predicts. “People want something different, but they still want it to be delicious.”
Incredible sales, applause from consumers and critics, flexibility in the vineyard. Until there’s a magic trick that turns wine into gold, this comes pretty close.
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Kathleen Willcox
Kathleen Willcox writes about wine, food and culture from her home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. She is keenly interested in sustainability issues, and the business of making ethical drinks and food. Her work appears regularly in Wine Searcher, Wine Enthusiast, Liquor.com and many other publications. Kathleen also co-authored a book called Hudson Valley Wine: A History of Taste & Terroir, which was published in 2017. Follow her wine explorations on Instagram at @kathleenwillcox
