Italian sparkling wines, such as Prosecco, outperformed the global champagne market by ten million bottles in terms of sales last year, figures from Italian winemakers' association Assoenologi have revealed.

The Delhi Wine Club reports that the global economic crisis may have sparked an interest in Italian bubblies as a more affordable alternative to champagne, and helped to sell 380 million bottles worldwide in 2010.

Although the economy is improving, consumer taste for sparkling Italian wines is continuing to grow, with exports rising by 17 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

However, Guiseppe Martelli, director general of Assoenologi, conceded that Italian wines outperformed champagne in sales and production only: "If we look at the amount of sparkling wine produced in terms of value, we would still be far behind French champagne."

Recently, the Washington Post recommended Vietti Roero Arneis 2008 as the ideal winter white: the grape varietal, Arneis, is known as "Barolo bianco" because it grows in the same region as the more famous Italian red wine.