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

The overall drop isn’t too dramatic: The group says its initial estimates for 2008 show consumption down 0.8 percent, at 243 million hectoliters (6.4 billion gallons) compared to 2007’s 245 million hectoliters.

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 hectoliters compared to 26 million for Italy, the group said.

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

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, partially offsetting the European drop.

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 percent last year, up from an average of 23.3 percent 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.

For the South African wine industry it seems that the successes of the New World Wines are positive for the industry. Wine consumers globally are shifting towards value wines and some South African wines are definitely attracting interest from these consumers.

Source: stuff.co.nz