No more cheap plonk: Wine lovers spending less on their favourite drink but when they do they opt for an expensive bottle Average cost of a bottle of wine has risen to its highest-ever figure of £5.11 Sales of premium wines costing more than £7.01 are increasing Wine-loving Britons may be buying less of their favourite tipple in the wake of price hikes but they are choosing better quality bottles, a new report showed yesterday. Although the average cost of a bottle of wine has risen to its highest-ever figure of £5.11 on the back of escalating taxation, there are signs that high street shoppers are still prepared to trade up, according to the latest data. Helen Stares, speaking on behalf of market analysts Nielsen, said that although the combined impact of duty and VAT had pushed up the average price of wine, some consumers were buying into higher bands. Despite tough economic conditions consumers are still buying wine and opting for better quality bottles Continuing a trend that emerged last year, sales of premium wines are increasing, with those over £7.01 growing 16 per cent by volume. She told Off Licence News: 'People are buying less, but we are seeing that, when consumers do buy, they are purchasing at a better quality -- so higher prices. 'There is, of course, an element of taxation driving up prices, but we're seeing premium products grow in other areas too - vodka, gin, world beer - and this trend can also be seen outside beer, wine and spirits, such as in coffee. Sales of premium wines are increasing, with those more than £7.01 growing 16 per cent by volume 'Where we're seeing the really strong growth is in more expensive wines - £7 and above - so to some extent bypassing the lower end of the market. 'With the £5 price threshold being crossed, we would expect to see volume fall, but whether or not it's a doomsday scenario very much differs by retailer and wine producer. They may be selling less, but if it's at a more profitable price then this is surely good news.' She added that despite the tough conditions and a fresh round of duty increases in last month's budget, consumers were still buying wine, albeit it with greater caution. Ms Stares said: 'We haven't really seen a decline in the number of households buying wine over the start of the year - no more so than we would expect coming out of the Christmas period. We believe that just as many consumers are purchasing wine, but they are buying less of it, and again this is similar to what we would expect in the early part of any year. In terms of the top countries exporting to the UK, Australia has extended its lead ahead of second placed Italy, having clawed back some of the ground it lost in recent years. Although Australia's value growth was flat, sales hit the £1billion mark against Italy's £830million following a 5 per cent drop on last year. France and the US remained in third and fourth place with respective sales of £765million and £686million. Spain led the charge with the strongest value surge of all the top 10 countries - up 17 per cent to £538million.