5 preconceived ideas about the French and wine

Laurent Vuillaume | 5/3/22

To coincide with the release of the SoWine barometer on the French and wine, we take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about wine.

The French prefer wine: FALSE

The French are synonymous with baguette, camembert and red wine. The image has been beaten to a pulp, but one might legitimately expect wine to remain at the top of French people's favorite drinks list. Instead, the French prefer... beer. By a narrow margin, however, as 51% of French people surveyed said they preferred sparkling beverages, which have grown by a dazzling 12% over the past year. Still wines (without bubbles) and champagne are declining, but remain at a good level.

6270dc4ca2823648c1510df6

The French consider themselves wine experts: FALSE

It's well known that France is the world's leading producer of fine wines, so every Frenchman is naturally, even genetically, a wine connoisseur, even an oenologist... Well, no, not at all: only 4% consider themselves experts. Not much for wine country. But the proportion is rising sharply, from just 1% in 2010...

6270dce9a2823648c1510e07

The French are buying less and less expensive wine: FALSE

The purchasing power of the French is declining, so we might expect to see a drop in the average price of a bottle of wine. Once again, it's a preconceived notion: the average price is rising. The graph doesn't show the drop in volumes, but the two are often concomitant. In conclusion, we're drinking less, but better.

6270dc5cce44e52e1818852e

The French are no longer drinking Bordeaux wines - it's "Bordeaux bashing": FALSE

Is Bordeaux bashing really rampant? It's the summary, gratuitous criticism of all Bordeaux wines, from grand crus to entry-level Bordeaux: they're all too expensive, too woody, too industrial, too marquetry... in short, too much. If this trend is at work among certain wine merchants, sommeliers or journalists, the figures seem clear: in all consumer categories (expert, enlightened or neophyte), it's Bordeaux wines they prefer.

6270dc75ce44e52e18188534

Online purchases: the French don't buy much on the Internet: FALSE

Online wine purchases have been growing strongly in France over the last ten years. Today, more than 40% of buyers surf the web to choose their nectars. Of course, the proportion is highest among young people under 25: 55% of them have their wine delivered. If you still can't download the precious liquid, it's hard to see what's stopping this trend in online purchasing.

6270dc84efd3626c7e36996e

The race for the title of Grand de Demain is over! Gault&Millau has just named Clément Guillemot, of the restaurant Choko Ona, Grand de Demain de l'Année 2025.

Read