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Last year, Italy exported 78 million gallons of wine to America. That’s nearly a quarter of the total wine imported by the U.S., according to the Beverage Information Group. Italy also ranks second in the world (behind France) for personal wine consumption, with each Italian consuming 13.6 gallons a year. Compare that to America, which ranks 42nd in wine consumption, with the average American drinking 3.6 gallons a year.

And yet, wine consumption in Italy is dwindling.

Five years ago Italians drank 14.5 gallons a year – and significantly less than the 15.1 gallons they drank in 2006, according to the Beverage Information Group. It’s a dramatic change from the 1970s, when Italians drank 29 gallons, according to Assoenologi, the main Italian oenologists’ association.

“This is happening in all three of the world’s major wine-producing countries: France, Italy, and Spain,” said Jancis Robinson, wine critic of the Financial Times. “Wine – so much part of tradition and the past in these countries – is seen as an old person’s or peasant’s drink, whereas heavily advertised beers, spirits, and sodas are seen as more youthful and modern.”

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– http://mag.newsweek.com/2013/11/15/vino-thanks-re-italian.html