While Britons drink fewer bottles than the French, Germans or Italians, Britain is expected to overtake its European neighbours in terms of money spent on wine by 2010, splashing out an estimated five billion pounds (7.5 billion euros, 9.5 billion dollars) a year.
“There are more and more people drinking wine in Britain,” Vinexpo’s general manager Robert Beynat told BBC radio.
The growth in retail value in Britain is explained both by rises in the amount of wine drunk and the fact that at 3.11 pounds, the average price of a bottle is higher in Britain than in most European countries.
While the sales of beer, traditionally a more popular tipple, have been in slow decline, wine’s popularity has been steadily increasing.
Rose wine in particular is becoming increasingly popular, Beynat said. “It is easy to understand and easy to drink,” he said, adding that it was considered the best way for new drinkers to enter the wine world.
Vinexpo, the world’s largest showcase for wine and spirits, is held every second June in Bordeaux, southwest France.
Image: Photo catch on June 18, 2005 of one stand the day before the opening of the 13th edition of Vinexpo, the largest world living room of the wines and Spiritueux which will be held until on Thursday June 23, 2005 with the Exhibition site of Bordeaux.