Once reserved for the most knowledgeable sparkling wine connoisseurs, crémant has become popular among Britons.
The French premium sparkling wine is dry and reasonably priced, making it the ideal option for those who want to avoid the overly sweet flavor of Prosecco and the high cost of champagne.
In contrast to the £45 Moet & Chandon or £50 Veuve Clicquot, the booming fizz, which can come from several parts of France, including the Loire Valley, is produced using the same method as its pricey competitor and normally costs between £8 and £18.
Additionally, consumers are searching for better products at more affordable costs in a nation where the consequences of the cost-of-living problem are still widespread, as evidenced by the sales of crémant.
New Tesco sales data from Dunnhumby shows that while shipments to the UK increased by a fifth in 2025, crémant sales increased by 73% in the supermarket.
Sales of the category at Waitrose have increased by 63% since this time last year, while the £15.50 Prince Alexandre Crémant de Loire and the Cave de Lugny Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs have grown by 89% and 106%, respectively.
Award-winning wine writer Helena Nicklin described the causes of the surge in an interview with the Daily Mail, saying, “Prosecco democratized sparkling wine; we loved that it was cheaper than champagne.” However, we later discovered that the DOC products available in the UK are straightforward and sweet. “People were craving something that was a little bit drier, that leans a bit more towards the champagne style, but without the champagne price, and crémant absolutely fits that bracket.”
“You can find a good one for £12, sometimes £10, which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a branded champagne.” “Crémant hits that sweet spot between something a little bit drier that is like champagne in taste but not in price.”
“It’s the perfect purchase for the current market: it feels like champagne, but it’s priced for everyday use,” Denis Couralt, director of crémant at Les Grands Chais de France, told trade publication The Grocer. “We’re seeing growth not only in the core appellations but also across lesser-known regions, driving both trade-up and repeat purchases.”
England is currently challenging France, which has dominated the sparkling wine market for generations.
The days of dinner party hosts groaning when their guests handed them a bottle of “the UK’s finest” are long gone; instead, consumers are demanding English sparkling wine, with labels like Chapel Down becoming more and more well-known.
According to Michael Kennedy, CEO of the English sparkling wine company Roebuck Estates, “for typically cooler countries, such as England, global warming has actually resulted in temperatures being better suited to growing grapes than they were 20 or 30 years ago.” This phenomenon is mostly caused by a new generation of winemakers being able to profit from climate change because vineyards are now thriving in England’s warm temperatures.
“It is estimated that average temperatures in the southeast of England have risen by approximately 1.4 degrees since the 1980s, which means that we now have a very good climate for growing grapes, particularly for sparkling wine,” Kennedy continued.
With vineyards as far north as Scotland, it’s helping the UK, but it’s hurting business in warmer nations. “Looking more broadly, global warming is a real concern and has had a significant impact on wine production around the world,” Kennedy stated.Some hotter places are beginning to get too hot, which is affecting the growth of their grapes. This also means that some traditional wine-producing areas are now finding it more difficult to grow grapes of the proper quality.
The obstacle facing winemakers in the UK? As Cherie Spriggs, head winemaker at English sparkling wine brand Nyetimber, put it, “changing the attitudes of a world hooked on the prestige of Champagne is challenging the misconception that Champagne is considered ‘safer.”
“England is still a newcomer when it comes to winemaking, and regions like Champagne are better known and therefore perhaps considered “safer” by many people,” she stated.
“At Nyetimber, we prioritize quality over everything else, and we tend to win people over to English sparkling wine simply by encouraging them to taste our products,” Spriggs added. After that, they frequently come back for another bottle or glass.
