Americans Drink The Most Wine, And It's Mostly Chardonnay

Europeans may be the "World's Biggest Drinkers" according to the World Health Organization, but America still somehow buys the most wine. What's more, it's the second year in the row that America has won that distinction.

The Wine Institute estimates that the U.S. sold more than 4 billion bottles in 2011, worth about $32.5 billion. This means one case of wine for every American.

Apparently, us Americans really like chardonnay (making up 21 percent of wine sales), followed by cabernet sauvignon (12 percent of the market).

Still, we're not too sure how this stacks up against Europe's drinking habits, where adult drinkers in Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe down 14.5 liters of alcohol per year (about 3.8 gallons). In 2010, Americans were drinking about 2.54 gallons of wine a year, so our beer consumption must be tiny.