Well, if that does work it appears to have been condemned to history. The drinking of wine by the French has reduced by 50% since 1980.
On average the French adult will probably drink no more than 1 bottle of wine a week these days.
The statistics were taken from bottle sales from the year 1980 to the present. A staggering seven billion bottles consumed in 1980 to just over three and a half billion bottles today.
What happened?
Three reasons appear to be causing this reduction.
1. The younger French drink less. Fast food, busier lives, and less social family gatherings have all contributed to this.
With the ban on smoking in bars and higher prices for alchohol France has fewer bars. It seems like they are closing every week and are regularly spotted for sale in the local estate agents.
2. French laws on Drink Driving have been tightened up and carried out with much more effeciency than in the past. 10 years ago the French habit of drinking several bottles of wine with dinner before driving home relying on other motorists to flash thier headlights to wan oncoming motorists that a police check was ahead has largly stopped.
3. With the reduction of wine consuming in France the more sought after and now much more expensive French Wines are going to the best restaurants in China. In fashionable Beijing restaurants it is essential to be served French wine of good quality.
But all is not lost wine fans because there are plenty of good local wines still being made, produced and bottled, some of which if you are lucky enough, can be found on the shelves of the local supermarket.