According to InterRhone, the southern French region is still in second  overall position (behind Bordeaux) and still the leading French region in the UK off-trade, commanding 42% of all sales of French AOC red wines.

Overall Rhone exports around the world have gone up 37% since 2010, just hitting one million hectolitres although Olivier Legrand, general marketing manager for InterRhone, did admit that the small 203 harvest will mean that the Rhone won't be able to repeat that performance next year.

Nonetheless, Legrand said that the Rhone was overcoming its earlier "weakness"of only having a few key markets and the US, Canada and Asia accounted for 50% of the volume increase in the last three years, with Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China all proving small but "dynamic"young markets.

In the UK, sales of French AOC wines are continuing to rise, up 4.7% in 2013 and just over 10% since 2011.

Rhone wines have grown 14.4% since 2011 within this sector, however, the region is still the leading AOC for red wines by volume.

Between 2010 and 2012, sales of Rhone reds by volume increased 12% from 10.8m litres to 12.4m, in 2013 that number slumped 6% back to 11.6m litres (though still ahead of 2011's 10.9m).The Languedoc also declined 32% in 2013, though Bordeaux managed an 11% rise.

The effect of rising duty was visible in the evolution of pricing too. In 2007 some 74% of Rhone wines were sold below 5 pounds and just 26% above, this has apparently been turned completely on its head with 32% of Rhone wines now sold below 5 pounds and 68% above with the 5 pounds-6 pounds category now being the region's strongest area.

For Legrand, the most positive thing about these latest figures is that the Rhone has held on to a positive position in the UK by "maintaining a positive image"of the region in the mind of the consumer.