How has increased soft drink consumption among the under-35s  
contributed to the decline of wine-drinking in France?  I take for  
granted that soft drink consumption has grown.

On Sep 16, 2005, at 11:56 AM, Gerald Groenewald wrote:

> My own gut feeling is that this is part of the on-going  
> globalisation of alcoholic drinks, something which has been  
> happening since the early modern period (in Europe, at least): a  
> move away from traditionally 'national' drinks to supposedly  
> 'foreign' ones, e.g. the shift in the Netherlands in the 17-18th  
> centuries from beer drinking to wine and brandy. Thus the  
> traditional divide between northern beer-drinking and southern wine- 
> drinking Europe became less and less evident, and I would imagine  
> that what is now happening in France is a continuance of that  
> trend; an erosion of what is considered 'traditional' drink and a  
> greater democratisation of choice in drink. It would be interesting  
> comparing figures for beer and wine drinking in northern and  
> southern European countries.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gerald Groenewald
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: David Fahey
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, September 16, 2005 5:23 PM
> Subject: fewer wine-drinkers in France
>
> Noticed an AP story in today's New York Times re the decline of
> wine-drinking in France: almost all the French who drink wine  
> regularly are
> over 35, just over half the French population drink wine, and the  
> number of
> French wine drinkers has dropped by a million over the last five
> years.  May I ask ADHS why?  Comparative data for other countries?   
> I think
> that in the USA wine drinking is more common now than a generation  
> ago, and
> beer-drinking and whiskey-drinking are what are in decline.
>
>