Women lead the way in wine

Women in the UK buy eight out of every ten bottles of wine in consumed in the home, a new study reveals.

New research carried out by Vinexpo has found that the UK's female wine drinkers in the UK are much more influential in the choices of wine in their homes than men.

Vinexpo's study also shows that women lead the way in wine knowledge and wine purchasing.

Data - collected and researched among more than 1,300 women aged between 18 and 60+ - showed a similar trends discovered in Vinexpo research undertaken in France, Germany, Japan and the USA.

However women in the UK scored highest for confidence at 61% against an international 41% average.

Six out of 10 women in Britain said they drank wine at least once a week and the same number said they preferred red to white. Fewer than one in 10 said they preferred rosé.

Eighty per cent of women said they liked to drink wine because they liked the taste and 70% because it goes well with food. Only one in five said they drank wine because it was fashionable and even fewer because they thought it was good for their health.

Nonetheless the study says that women see wine as a healthier alternative to other alcoholic drinks and nine out of ten wine purchases were made in supermarkets and specialist wine shops. A third said they bought wine on the internet. Both the level of supermarket and internet purchases were higher than expected.

Price determined women's choice of wine at 74%, followed by grape variety 64%, country of origin 55% or the label or packaging 42%.

Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo said: "the role of wome in wine buying and the depth of their knowledge has been vastly underestimated.

"This is as true for other countries as it is for Britain.

"It's often assumed for example, that women drink white wine and rosé rather than red whereas this research shows the contrary.

"The message is clear, cherchez la femme if you want to sell."

Vinexpo is held in Bordeaux from June 21 - June 25, 2009.