International Digest

US is biggest wine consumer
BORDEAUX – US consumers were the world’s top wine drinkers in 2011, while China displaced Britain to become the fifth largest wine consumer, according to new research.

US consumers downed the equivalent of 3,7 billion bottles of wine, while China including Hong Kong drank 1,9 billion bottles, according to data released by trade show Vinexpo and International Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR).
Retail sales cap a record yearWASHINGTON – America’s retailers enjoyed a record 2011 and their first US$400 billion sales months ever. But the final month of the year was a dud. Sales eked out a 0,1 per cent increase in December, lifting sales to a seasonally adjusted US$400, 6 billion. It was the second straight month that sales have topped US$400 billion. Diageo to expand Dublin breweryLONDON – British drinks giant Diageo Plc is to expand its Guinness brewery in central Dublin in a 153 million-euro investment to focus all its Irish brewing on one site, while plans to build a new super brewery remain on ice.The London-based group said on Thursday the move will boost capacity by nearly 50 per cent at its historic St James’s Gate brewery close to the river Liffey where Arthur Guinness moved his brewing operations in 1759 to brew his eponymous stout beer.Reports: Nampa-Reuters-AP-AFP