Sparkling Wine Became Russia’s Only Growing Wine Segment Through July

Retail sales of grape wine in Russia fell in the first seven months of 2026, while sparkling wine was the only wine segment to post growth, according to figures reported Thursday by Interfax, citing the federal regulator Rosalkogoltabakkontrol.

Sales of grape wine from January through July slipped 2.8% from a year earlier to 31.3 million decaliters, equivalent to 313 million liters. Based on the reported rate and the rounded totals published by the regulator, that amounts to a drop of about 9 million liters from the same period in 2025.

Sparkling wine and Champagne moved in the opposite direction. Retail sales rose 3.7% to 11.8 million decaliters, or 118 million liters. Using the same published rate and rounded totals, that implies an increase of roughly 4.2 million liters from a year earlier. The gap between the growth in sparkling wine and the decline in the overall grape wine category was 6.5 percentage points.

Other parts of the wine market weakened sharply. Fruit wine sales fell 36.4% to 1 million decaliters, or 10 million liters. Liqueur wine declined 6.3% to 631,200 decaliters, or 6.31 million liters. The figures left sparkling wine as the only wine category in growth during the period.

The data released by Rosalkogoltabakkontrol did not include sales in rubles, average retail prices, or a split between domestic and imported products. That leaves the latest report focused on volume rather than value, and it does not show whether the changes were driven by pricing, consumer trade-down, or supply differences between Russian and foreign labels.

Outside wine, the broader alcohol market in Russia showed a mixed picture. Sales of beverages with alcohol content above 9 degrees rose 1.4% to 67.7 million decaliters in the January-July period. Within that group, a category identified by the regulator as alcoholic beverages increased 11.4% to 11.4 million decaliters. Vodka sales were unchanged from the level recorded a year earlier at 41.4 million decaliters, while cognac sales fell 2.3% to 6.9 million decaliters.

Beer sales, however, moved lower. Retail volume fell 2.6% to 351.3 million decaliters, and beer-based drinks dropped 3.8% to 54.4 million decaliters. In other fermented beverages, cider rose 26.2% to 6.4 million decaliters, poiret fell 25.9% to 77,800 decaliters, and mead increased 7% to 1.8 million decaliters.

Taken together, sales of fermented drinks including beer, beer drinks, cider, poiret and mead declined 2.4% to 413.9 million decaliters in the first seven months of the year. Across all alcohol categories, Russia sold 527.8 million decaliters at retail in the period, down 2% from a year earlier.