French: up Jacob's Creek?

It is enough to have traditionalists spluttering on their claret. For the first time, British wine lovers are buying more from Australia than France.

For several years, month by month, the gap between two countries has been getting smaller. Now what was once unthinkable has finally happened. While Britons spent £ 647million on French vintages, £664million went on Australian brands in the year to the end of August.

For the first time, during July and August, Australian wines also outsold the French in volume, industry figures revealed yesterday.

The growth is such that Australian brewing giant Fosters now makes more money in Britain selling wine than lager.

Although it is too soon to tell whether it is a blip or a continuing trend, British shoppers are opting for Australian wine brands such as Penfolds, Rosemount and Lindemans rather than generic French clarets and Cotes du Rhones.

Experts say that, while New World producers in countries such as Chile, Australia, South Africa and the US have developed their wines, the French failed to innovate. 'The French are their own worst enemy - not us,' said Philip Shaw, an Australian vintner. 'Wine is like fashion, it has to keep reinventing itself.'

Meanwhile, the World Cup helped boost lager sales in Britain by 13 per cent this year, according to trade journal The Grocer.