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.