What the Danes once reserved only for the New Year’s celebrations or other very special occasions, has now become popular all year round as annual sales of champagne and other types of sparkling wine have skyrocketed in Denmark in recent years.
“The demand for champagne has never been higher here,” Bjørn Leisner, the owner of a wine shop in Hellerup, told Berlingske.
“When we organise tastings in companies, it is champagne they often want to try.”
Coop has recorded a 65 percent increase in sales of champagne in its stores Kvickly, SuperBrugsen and Irma since 2015, while sales of cheaper cava and cremant remain high too.
The Danish organisation Vin & Spiritus (VSOD) confirms imports of champagne and other sparkling wines rose by 77 percent in the period 2006-2015.
Last year, some 1.3 million litres of bubbly were imported to the country, and in 2012, Denmark got its first top-class champagne bar at hotel D’Angleterre in Copenhagen.
READ MORE: Forever drinking bubbles: Danes lapping up the champagne
Champagne is the new wine
According to Søren Frank, a food and wine reviewer for Berlingske, sparkling wine has become more popular all year round in Denmark as the Danes have learnt it goes well with shellfish, fish, oysters, caviar and sushi.
“In the past, the very best restaurants had maybe one champagne [to choose from] on the menu, while mid-range restaurants did not have any,” Frank told Berlingske.
“Now the best restaurants have several pages on the carte just with champagnes, while the mid-priced have at least one.”
Champagne is a trademark name for sparkling wines produced solely from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France.
Other sparkling wines produced in Europe are called cava (from Spain), spumante (from Italy) or sekt (from Germany).
