UK: Wine Sales Fall For First Time In A Decade Wine sales in the UK have fallen for the first time in over a decade, according to figures from analysts ACNielsen and reported widely. The announced on 25 May show that in the year and eight weeks to 22 April, wine sales fell almost 2%. White wine sales dipped over 1%, although red wine sales were virtually flat. In the first 16 weeks of 2005, Britain drank 313 million bottles of wine. But in the same period this year, just 308 million bottles were downed - a fall of 1.5%. That translates to five million bottles and an awful lot of imbibing. So far, analysts say it is too early to draw conclusions on what has caused the decline, but many in the industry fear that a combination of rising fuel prices and growing consumer debt has led many drinkers to start tightening their belts. The statistics have sent shockwaves through the British wine industry, which was forecasting that consumption trends would continue upwards. Although beer consumption in the UK is still higher overall, the gap is rapidly closing. The average adult annual consumption of wine is now just below three gallons, compared with 2.46 gallons in 2000. France still tops the consumption league with 12.8 gallons. Economic belt-tightening may be just one reason for the downward slide in the UK. Wine producers are currently spending less on marketing because the practice of heavy discounting by supermarkets is eating into profits. On the other hand, there has been a resurgence in demand for traditional bottled beers produced by a new and growing breed of micro breweries.   top