Champagne loses sparkle

COVID-19 has dealt the champagne industry a blow, with lockdown curbs on weddings, eating out and parties all affecting the market.

Producers in France’s eastern Champagne region, headquarters of the global industry, say they have lost an estimated 1.7 billion euros in sales for this year, as turnover fell by a third, a hammering unmatched in living memory, and worse than the Great Depression.

They expect about 100 million bottles to be languishing unsold in their cellars by the end of the year.