The news which has not been unsurprising claims that the sales of French wine and Champagne fell sharply in 2008 because the local consumers cut back on spending. Overall, 86% of French households bought at least one bottle of wine in 2008, and the report claimed the country still remains the world's top producer of wine. (Some recent reports have put Italy slightly ahead of France). The report also says that the average consumption per household came down to 43 liters of wine in 2008, down from 47 in 2007.
"It's a phenomenon of the current economic situation, so we need to be prudent and not sound the alarm," reportedly said Xavier de Volontat, who heads an association of French vintners. "We'll have to be prudent vis-a-vis our members in the months to come. It's true that they're being patient, but they have to be able to get by economically."
Many experts and winemakers have linked the drop in consumption to the global recession. But another set of government numbers released this week show French households have bumped up their purchasing in recent months. Some people view the falloff in wine consumption as an emblem of a larger, ongoing cultural shift.
In 1960, the average French adult drank almost 175 liters of wine per year — more than four times as much as the average for an entire household in 2008. And wine has been harder hit in recent years than beer or spirits; the French drink half as much total alcohol today as 50 years ago.
Many people feel that the slump in exports is not just an economic phenomenon. In Canada, for instance, The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) says it's selling more New World wines, a category which includes wine produced in Canada, Australia, Chile and virtually anywhere outside Europe. The reason is that while French wines remain the "benchmark" in the C$25 a bottle and up range, an LCBO spokesperson said, many consumers believe the New World brands offer better choice and cheaper prices. |