Speaking ahead of the release of Vinexpo's research next month, Beynat said volumes of both sparkling and still wines had risen.

"We were afraid of trading down, but globally speaking things are going well. The speed of increase in consumption was reduced, but it continued to increase compared to other products," he said.

The global market grew by about 1% by volume, he said, with Northern Europe and China two of the areas to outpace the global average.

Drinking at home was outpacing the on trade he said, and called on restaurants to reduce their margins.

In Japan, where the on trade is becoming cheaper and the off trade more expensive, the on trade is growing fast, he said.

"Most of the restaurants in Europe are taking too much margin. They should lower them, find new ways to present the wine and arrange for more educated sommeliers to help the consumers."

Full details of the research by Vinexpo and the IWSR, which covers 28 producing countries and 114 consumer markets, will be announced on 5 February.