Wine now neck-and-neck with beer as Australia’s favourite alcoholic drink

WOMEN and their beloved wine have turned the booze-popularity table on its head. Forty years ago, beer was the Aussie drink of choice. About 70 per cent of drinkers chose beer, 20 per cent drank wine, and 10 per cent had spirits. According to Australian Hotels Association SA general manager Ian Horne, times have changed. He believes a huge shift in women’s incomes, social and drinking habits over the past four decades, their drinking “presence” and preference for wine has toppled beer as the bar favourite.