Champagne sales are booming as Bermuda is determined to see out 2013 with a bang.

Bottles of bubbly are flying off the shelves — despite the recession.

And Charles Gosling, of the Island’s largest drinks supplier Gosling’s, said: “I would say probably the month of December would be our best month for champagne.

I’d say we haven’t noticed any decline — although we normally get our monthly reports at the end of the month. But I really haven’t seen any noticeable decline.

“If you count all the liquor companies, we are definitely talking about thousands of bottles.”

Mr Gosling added: “Champagne has been a significant purchase over the last number of years and the champagne houses haven’t seen it in their interests to do any downturns in terms of pricing.”

Mr Gosling said that luxury labels imported by Gosling’s — like Veuve Clicquot, Moet & Chandon and other top names — had held their own despite difficult economic times.

But he added that Italian sparkling wine Prosecco and other relative newcomers to the market from California, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia, had also been selling well.

Mr Gosling said: “For those with champagne tastes, but not necessarily champagne pockets, they have been doing the move over.”

Mr Gosling said that the Cloudy Bay vineyard in New Zealand — which is owned by Moet & Chandon — produced a good sparkling wine at two thirds of the price of champagne.

But he added: “We have been lucky in several ways — where people have been cutting back, it’s probably been in terms of doing the larger events in restaurants and hotels.

“When people have been downsizing, they’ve been coming and purchasing from us instead. They’re buying the same quality, but rather than having it in a public environment, they’re enjoying it at home. There has been no dramatic drop-off at all.”

Mr Gosling said that liquor sales in the Island reflected the wider economic climate.

He added: “Unfortunately, nothing is recession-proof — people are tightening their belts at some other times of the year.”

And he said that January and February were traditionally the worst of the year for liquor sales following the high-spending festive season.

But Mr Gosling added: “There are some nice, reaffirming bits of news at this time of year that tells us that certainly champagne is the number one choice for celebrations.”

The news came as it was revealed that the fizz had gone out of the global champagne business for the second year in a row, with sales expected to fall by three to four percent in 2013.

Declining sales in the French market — which still accounts for 51 percent of sales — was down, while the UK, the second largest market, had also seen a drop in the number of champagne corks popped.

The market in Britain has also been hit by the increasing popularity of bubbly like Prosecco and Spanish Cava.

The decline in traditional markets was not offset by increasing sales in newer markets like Japan and China.

Michael Robinson, director of wine at Burrows Lightbourn, said: “If you’re talking about the category of everything that bubbles, sales are ahead of when the recession started.”

But he added that it appeared some buyers were more budget-conscious and opting for cheaper alternatives to champagne.

Mr Robinson said: “I would say that our champagne sales are down slightly, but not alarmingly. Less expensive sparkling wines, however, are a little better than even compared to last year.

“There are fewer people in Bermuda than there were a couple of years ago, so sales are down a bit generally, but not alarmingly. Sparkling wines are a growing category — it’s grown amazingly over the last few years.

“We are certainly not upset at the way things are going.”