Majestic expects to sell one bottle of Cava per minute this Christmas

UK wine specialist Majestic has revealed some of the key trends it expect to see over the coming weeks as the country gears up for Christmas celebrations, including a Cava resurgence.

Majestic is predicting a Cava Christmas this year. The UK is the fourth largest international export market for the fizz, and global Cava sales saw a boom between 2020 and 2021, rising 17.33% year on year.

Majestic predicts that more traditional options like Champagne and English sparkling will remain staples at the Christmas lunch table. However, the retailer is anticipating that one bottle of Majestic’s Cava will fly off the shelves each minute this festive period. This works out to an expected increase of 50% year on year.

In the past, Cava has struggled to compete with its European rivals in sparkling wine. New research by the IWSR noted that Champagne and Prosecco are growing across a broad base of markets, including the US, France, Japan, and Italy.

The two sparkling wines are also driving the premiumisation of wine, the IWSR found. The growth of premium and above sparkling wine outpaces that of total premium+ wine at a growth rate of 8% versus +1% for the first half of 2021-22.

Prosecco continues to succeed in the sparkling category, with the help of Prosecco rosé. The Prosecco DOC enjoyed a surge in both volume and sales value exports to the United States in 2021, ably abetted by the increasing popularity of the pink fizz.

But the team at Majestic believes that while Cava has previously struggled reputationally against its European bubbly rivals, many consider it to be closest in taste to Champagne at a fraction of the price point, making it a likely choice for Christmas morning sipping.

A new tier-system outlining the quality, ageing and provenance of Cava also came into play this year. Read more on that here.