Have you noticed how patriotic we’ve all suddenly become?

Since the Royal Wedding, there’s been an upswell of national pride of the like not seen since, well, the Royal Wedding. People who were at best indifferent, at worst ashamed of their Britishness now seem to be flaunting it unabashedly.

If they’re not doing their bit to support the troops by buying Eggs for Soldiers or Bravo2Burgers (courtesy of Noble Foods and Red Lion Foods respectively), they’re actively looking out for products that sport Union flags or rather less edifyingly, baying for Rupert Murdoch’s blood (who could miss the whiff of jingoism in the campaign to scupper the Australian mogul’s bid for BSkyB?).

Even the would-be apprentices have been at it, with Team Logic’s British fast food concept ‘MyPy’ soundly beating Venture’s yet more risibly named Mexican concept ‘Caraca’s’ despite claiming the Italian Christopher Columbus as a Brit.

And now, apparently, we’re eschewing wine for more traditional “British” alcoholic beverages such as beer and cider even those spelled Cidre. The Grocer’s second annual survey of Britain’s 100 Biggest Alcohol Brands reveals that wine sales have slumped 4.3% by volume and shown paltry 0.2% value growth a massive reversal in fortunes after last year’s 4% and 7% rises.

Of course, duty hikes, exchange rates and price rises haven’t helped. Neither has the demise of three-for-a-tenner deals or the fact wine is inherently more expensive. But with more of us than ever holidaying in Blighty and a host of new drinks like Stella Cidre and now Foster’s Gold, Carling Chrome and Animée to tempt us the nation seems to be falling out of love with wine (English wines among the few exceptions).

Perhaps winemakers, too, should think about ramping up the NPD. Brand extensions may lack the boldness of out-and-out innovation, but judging by Cidre’s success, they certainly seem to slake the thirst of cash-strapped Brits.

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