IF you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. For years now, a large part of the French wine industry has been suffering at the hands of producers from the New World — Australia, America, South Africa and New Zealand — and has put up little in the way of resistance.

But led by an entrepreneur with a strong background in the wine industry, the French are fighting back, taking on the global brands at their own game.

The attempt to counter their international rivals cannot come quickly enough. While the premier wines and labels continue to thrive, those producers making cheaper varieties are faring badly. It is estimated that between 1994 and 2003, France lost about 84,000 commercial growers.

There are plenty of folk queuing up to write off large parts of the industry. At Wine Evolution, an industry symposium held last week, there were frequent mutterings about the struggle faced by the Old World producers.

In Britain wine has been the hot growth segment of the alcoholic-drinks market. According to a Mintel report published last summer, wine consumption has grown 23% over the past five years and now accounts for 24.7% of the market by value.

But much of that growth has been fuelled by branded wines such as Hardys and Jacob’s Creek; it is an area of the market from which traditionalist French wine producers have shied away.

“Where the Americans, the Australians and others have been so successful has been in targeting the middle class and selling wines in the £4-£10 or $6-$15 price range,” said John Wakely, principal of L&B Advisors, a drinks-industry consultancy.

Drinkers have also become accustomed to buying wines according to the type of grape — such as shiraz or chardonnay. France, on the other hand, still labels its wines largely by region, such as bordeaux or bourgogne. For younger consumers, these names carry little resonance.

Sales of French wine in off- licences and supermarkets have already been overtaken by sales of Australian wine, and the betting is under way on when American wines will beat their European counterparts into third place.

Guy Woodward, the deputy editor of Decanter, a wine magazine, said that consumers preferred New World brands because they knew what they were getting.

“People buying at that level are looking for reliability and a sense of security,” he said.

The French producers have, for the most part, resisted attempts to change their ways, perhaps because historically they have not had to compete terribly hard.

Such attitudes are difficult to shift and, the champagne market aside, innovation has not been a feature of the industry.