Shipments of crémant de Bordeaux jumped by over a third in volume terms last year, according to figures released this week from the Bordeaux Wine Council.
A total of 622,222 nine-litre cases of the sparkling wine were shipped abroad last year, a rise of 35% on 2024, the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) said. Crémant sales in Germany, the Bordeaux region’s top export market, leapt by 66% in volume terms and by 63% in value compared to 2024, while the UK – Bordeaux’s second-largest exporter – bought 35% more of the traditional-method sparkling wine in volume terms and spent 37% more.
In the past decade, the production of crémant de Bordeaux has almost doubled, forming 4% of the region’s total wine production in 2025, according to CIVB.
“The growth reflects a wider shift towards sparkling wine as consumers embrace lighter, fresher styles that bring a sparkle to all occasions,” the CIVB said.
Crémant is defying the wider performance of the Bordeaux region, for whom both domestic and international sales are in decline. In the 12 months to the end of February this year, shipment volumes fell by 8%, according to French Customs data.
Bordeaux has been dogged by disease, climate-related issues and falling consumption, all of which have contributed to oversupplies and emergency support measures from the French Government – including crisis distillation (allowing winemakers to produce industrial ethanol from excess wine) and even vineyard-removal schemes.
“The structural difficulties coupled with an unstable geopolitical context and adverse climatic conditions are resulting in sluggish markets,” the French Ministry of Agriculture said earlier this year.
