Sales of Italy's answer to champagne have been bubbling up for years, Reuters writes, but prosecco producers plan to boost output to 250 million bottles next year, with an eye on someday overtaking champagne as the world's favorite sparkling wine. The bubbly is cheaper to make than its French rival, and vintners believe its sweeter taste will go down well in red-hot export markets like China.
"Prosecco is softer, easier to drink than champagne," said a producer near Venice whose family has been in the business since 1542. With the "good price-quality ratio, prosecco could become the leading bubbly over the next 30 years." (More wine stories.)