Sparkling wine is overtaking champagne as Britain's tipple of choice, according to new research.

Once considered champagne's poorer relation, sparkling wines have seen volume sales grow by 13% on last year, with 42 million litres sold, and 44% since 2002. Meanwhile, champagne volume sales increased by only 24% over the same five-year period to reach 29 million litres sold last year.

"Champagne used to be the only accepted choice and sparkling wine was simply seen as a second-rate imitation, but sparkling wine growers have now turned the market around by producing consistently good-quality wines and giving people a much greater variety of wines to choose from," said Mathilde Dudouit, senior market analyst at consumer research group Mintel.

"For many, sparkling wine is now seen as a really enjoyable treat in its own right, and the fact that it costs only a few pounds more than a regular bottle of wine is just an added bonus."

New world wines, including Jacob's Creek, Hardys Crest and Lindauer have proved particularly popular in the UK market because of their strong branding and reputation for quality.

However, English sparkling wine is now attracting interest and investment, due to affordable land, good soil, warmer weather and quality production.

"Looking to the future, there is real opportunity for sparkling wine producers to also promote their wine as a cocktail ingredient to further boost its image as a glamorous drink amongst the going out crowd," said Dudouit.

French champagne houses Louis Roederer and Duval Leroy have been looking into investment opportunities in English sparkling wine production, while Didier Pierson has already planted vines here.

However, according to exclusive consumer research, there is still some way to go before the wine goes mainstream, as only 3% of us bought English sparkling wine in the last year.

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