Six billion dollar wine industry? You're welcome!

The French consumed a lot of alcohol in the late-nineteenth century. To quote John Merriman, historian at Yale University, "The consumption of wine per person, per baby, per old lady, per you, per everybody--I hope not per you--in 1790 was 61 liters per year. By 1850 it was 75 liters per year. By 1895 it was 113 liters per year, but that's only wine." That's a lot of booze. Ironically, American interventionism made this rampant alcohol abuse possible. A small pest native to North America, named phylloxera, had made its way to Europe in the 1850's and ravaged the majority of the vineyards in France. After various failed attempts at solving the problem, it was decided to graft the native European grape vines onto the American vine roots. That's right, that aftertaste of your favorite Bordeaux is probably Uncle Sam saying hello.