Wine drinking may not be a competitive sport but the rivalry between countries to see who leads the world with the most influential palate, which wineries are leading their region, and which supermarket’s buying team is ruling the roost is just as intense.

Perhaps the most brutal way to examine the world of wine is by country.

The big news this year is that France is on the slide. The French were once the undisputed masters of the art, but their wine exports to the UK recently slid from second to third position, with the US in second and Italy in fourth.

For the nation that regards itself as the birthplace of wine, this is a royal spanking. France has amazing prestige in Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, wondrous diversity in the Loire, awesomeness in the Rhine, aromatics in Alsace and some serious value emerging in the Vin de Pays category – look for brands such as La Difference. But the French system of labelling by place rather than grape still leaves a lot of UK wine fans bewildered.

Australia remains king of the UK export market, but my tips to watch out for over the coming season include New Zealand, Chile and South Africa.

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