New World sips steadily as Europe cuts wine

PARIS - Shun that bottle and save your euros: That's what French and Italians are saying as the recession cuts into wine consumption in traditional lands of the vine.

An industry group says the crisis hasn't choked off everyone's thirst, however. New World drinkers are still sipping steadily and Brazilians "are really starting to believe in the vine".

After years of non-stop growth, global wine consumption started to retreat last year, with the rest of the world economy, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine said last week.

The overall drop isn't too dramatic: The group says its initial estimates for 2008 show consumption down 0.8 per cent, at 243 million hectolitres (6.4 billion gallons) compared with 245 million hectolitres in 2007.

But the latest figures on wine making and drinking around the world reveal a few key shifts.

For the first time, the United States surpassed Italy in terms of total wine consumption, with 27.3 million hectolitres compared with 26 million for Italy, the group said.

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AdvertisementOn the vineyard end, European vineyards accounted for less than half the world's grape production for the first time last year.

"It is obvious that the world economic crisis has played a role in lowering overall demand," the organisation's director, Federico Castellucci, said in Paris.

Consumption fell in all of Europe's major wine-producing and consuming countries, including France, Italy and Germany, Europe's biggest wine-drinking nations.

The United States, Canada and Australia saved the day by raising more and more glasses.

Wines from the so-called New World - Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States - saw their share of global wine exports rise to nearly 30 per cent last year, up from an average of 23.3 per cent between 2001 and 2005. Italy remains the world's largest wine exporter measured by volume, although France keeps the title of biggest wine exporter in terms of value, Castellucci said.

Another bright spot in the wine world is Brazil, which now has about 100,000ha of vineyards, up from 79,000ha in 2005, but still behind Argentina's 225,000ha and Chile's 198,000ha.

So will diners at sidewalk terraces along Paris' picturesque quais still be summoning the sommelier?

Castelluci remained upbeat.

"I'm an optimist, especially for the mid and upper mid-level quality wines with a very good price-to-quality relationship," he said.