Where Would You Put 32 Billion Bottles of Wine?

Imagine the entire island of Manhattan flooded in wine a foot deep. That’s how much vino the world will drink in 2018, according to a new study. Vinexpo, the international wine and spirits exhibition held in Bordeaux biennially, commissioned the report to examine how the global wine market has changed since 2009 and where it’s going next.

Apparently, more wine is next. From 2009 to 2013, global wine consumption increased by 2.7 percent, from 2.58 billion cases worth to 2.64 billion. And IWSR, the London-based research firm that conducted the study, believes that growth will increase. They project consumption will expand another 3.7 percent by 2018. Thanks to rapid growth in the United States, China, the U.K. and emerging markets, the world will drink 2.73 billion cases of wine in 2018. That’s more than 32.8 billion bottles, or 24.6 billion liters.

In case you find it hard to visualize 32.8 billion bottles of wine, it’s enough to fill all 102 floors of the Empire State Building 23 times. Or flood Manhattan. For other ideas on what to do with that much wine, check out our slideshow below.

What kind of wine is this? Much of it will be red, but an increasing amount will be pink, bubbly or both. Sparkling wine has enjoyed huge gains since 2009—global consumption rose 7.7 percent (22.9 percent in the U.S. alone) and IWSR projects it will grow 6.1 percent more by 2018. While 54 percent of wine drunk last year was red, compared to 9 percent rosé and 37 percent white, rosé consumption is projected to grow 4.5 percent by 2018, while red increases 3.6 percent and white 3.1 percent.

Vinexpo 2015, which runs from June 14 to 18 in Bordeaux, is expected to attract nearly 50,000 professional visitors and 2,400 exhibitors from 44 wine-producing countries. Wine Spectator has partnered with the exhibition this year on two special programs highlighting the U.S. wine market.

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Storing 32.8 Billion Bottles of Wine