The U.S. Passes France as the Worlds Top Wine Consumer

We don't typically pity the French, what with their pantries full of fine cheese, meats and wine. 

But France is changing quickly. It's for McDonald's and it's fighting a tough battle against the of English. And now there's another unkind cut: A finds that the U.S. has overtaken France as the world's top wine consumer.

France consumed 742.3 million gallons of wine in 2013, a 7 percent decline over 2012; the U.S., by comparison, consumed 768.7 million gallons, a 0.5 percent increase. That makes the U.S. the biggest internal market in the world in terms of volume, according to the Paris-based Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin, known by its initials OIV.

Wine consumption in France has been steadily declining for years. , more than half of French adults were consuming wine nearly every day in 1980; that figures in 17 percent today. And the proportion of the French who don't drink wine at all: 38 percent.

French restaurant and hospitality expert Fred Sirieix The Salt last year there were many reasons for the downward trend including the financial crisis, reduced limits for driving under the influence of alcohol and greater interest in health. 

Still, French wine-makers are trying to stem the tide. They have taken to novel approaches to popularize wine drinking among young people, including a red wine flavored with cola.

But Tuesday's report from the OIV did note that while the U.S. may have become the world's biggest wine market last year, the French still drink six times more wine per head than Americans.

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