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Rank the United States holds among export markets for Champagne. Only the United Kingdom is a larger export market for Champagne. Champagne sales in the U.S. have increased for six years in a row. Last year, we drank 23.7 million bottles and spent $652 million on France’s finest bubbly. (At KM & Co., we’re pretty sure we account for some of that increase).

Franciacorta is an Italian grape.

Answer: False.

Franciacorta is a region in Lombardy in northern Italy, famous for its sparkling wines. The sophisticated, dry sparkling wines, made by the traditional Champagne method from chardonnay and pinot noir (and sometimes pinot blanc), are austerely elegant with a fine, creamy mousse of bubbles. Franciacortas come as nonvintage wines as well as vintage-dated (known as Franciacorta millesimato) and, like Champagne, they spend a relatively long time on lees―18 months for non-vintage to 60 months for Franciacorta riserva.

Binge-ing in Italy?

A friend once told me that when an Italian drinks too much, they don’t say he’s drunk too much; they say he hasn’t eaten enough food yet. By that standard, the residents of Alto Adige must be… Continue reading

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