Champagne fizzes to new records

Champagne sales are regarded in some circles as a bellwether of a country's economic fortunes - and that means that the outlook for France is excellent heading into 2018.

Fizz sales smashed through the €5billion barrier in the past 12 months as purchases soared by 6% on the previous year, according to official figures. And, for the first time in six years, half those sales were made in France, hinting that optimism is rising across the country.

America, meanwhile, has been the main driver of champagne sales overseas, as French houses celebrated record sales in the States. Trans-atlantic success was enough to compensate for a slump in sales in French bubbly's traditional export market leader, Britain, where sales have dipped markedly in the past 12 months.