There were 38.4 billion cases of wine produced last year. The majority, 54%, is red, compared with 37% for white and 9% for rosé. The question is who drinks it all? The quick and correct answer is Europe and the U.S.
The latest figures from International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR) shows the U.S. is still the biggest market by volume, drinking a total of 339 million cases of wine in 2013 (France 296 mil. cases, Italy 288 mil., Germany 274 mil., China 144 mil.).
Per capita wine consumption is an even more interesting figure. Perhaps you think that the no. 1 wine-consuming country per capita by volume is France, where a meal without wine is called breakfast. Forget the stereotype. Here, Luxembourg leads the pack, ahead of France, Portugal, Switzerland and Italy., according to Faostat figures.
Sparkling-wine consumption was led by the Germans, who drank 46 million cases of fizz in 2014. They beat France, at 30 million, and Russia (traditionally a large market for Champagne), which consumed 26 million cases.
Holidays are coming so let’s invite old friends to enjoy a special bottle together. "In vino veritas", yes indeed, but you might want to consider how far down the bottle of truth you go before you put a cork in it!
Helgi Library 
