Wine Consumption Drops in France

And now, something from the Department of the Unexpected: wine-consumption levels in France are at a record low. Yes, drinking wine, which was once considered France's favorite pastime, just doesn't have the cachet it used to. In 1965 the average French adult drank 160 liters of wine per year; that number is now down to 57, and just 17 percent were regular wine drinkers as of 2010. The numbers may be due to health concerns and the rising popularity of juice and soda with meals. There's still no word on whether beret-wearing and snootiness numbers are also down.