Offers a fresh interpretation of the relationship between consumption, drinking culture, memory and cultural identity in an age of rapid political and economic change. This book provides an account of the various causes of the long-term decline in alcohol consumption and of the emergence of a new wine drinking culture since the 1970s.

Wine drinking culture has traditionally been a source of pride for the French. In fact, to many it is an essential part of what it means to be French. In "Wine Drinking Culture in France," Marion Demossier examines wine consumption in France since the 1970s, arguing that it cannot be separated from the wider cultural context in which it takes place but also revealing how recent social, economic, and political forces have transformed wine's role in constructing France's national identity.