Italy pops France's bubbles

ROME, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Italian spumante is poised to bubble over the top of French champagne this New Year's Eve, the Italian farmers' association Coldiretti said.

Spumante has seen a record 25 percent rise in sales in the first 10 months of 2011, compared to 3.5 percent for champagne, Italy's ANSA news agency reported Tuesday.

Coldiretti said more than 300 million bottles of spumante will be consumed New Year's Eve. Imports of the Italian sparkling wine are up 40 percent in Russia, 37 percent in the United States, 25 percent in Britain and 8 percent in Germany.

In Italy, nine out of 10 New Year's toasts will be made with the domestic sparkling wine, Coldiretti said.