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WINE - £1965m-£1970m

Wine has grown strongly in both value and volume terms this year. The number of households buying wine has risen, but the key driver of growth has been increased frequency of purchase. Consumers are experimenting with a wider range of products, a trend that has been encouraged by supermarket promotions, which encourage people to trade up, even when the wines come off promotion.

Seven of the top 10 wines have achieved solid growth, three of them by more than 20%. Own-label has little impact in the category, although Tesco Finest wine has grown strongly, reflecting the general trend toward premium brands.

Blossom Hill and Jacob's Creek's respective sponsorships of Channel 4 comedy shows Will & Grace and Friends have ended, but both brands, along with Stowells, are good at attracting new consumers with comparatively cheap bottles of wine, then encouraging them to trade up. More experienced consumers tend to buy more expensive wines, a trend exploited by Hardys, whose household penetration grew by 11% this year.

In-store promotion is important in this sector, as seen in the success of Kumala, which doubled its sales this year following steady promotional activity. Last year, when it had very little activity, it suffered the heaviest sales fall of any top 10 brand.

BEER & LAGER - £1790m-£1795m

After a long period of sustained growth, sales of beer fell by 1% this year. The growing popularity of wine has been a big factor in beer's decline.

The lack of a major summer football event meant that the massive sales peaks around Euro 2004 have been hard to maintain. In addition, poor weather last summer meant a dearth of outdoor drinking occasions. Most of the retailers ran offers such as 'two cases for £20' before Christmas, which boosted sales during the offer period, but led to a subsequent slump.

Carlsberg was the star performer, bucking the category trend with a 43% rise in sales, helped by its sponsorship of Euro 2004 and the England football team, and has managed to sustain that success in part through its heavy exposure in Tesco.

Stella Artois still leads the category, while Carling, despite the strength of its key competitor Carlsberg, performed well with a 3% sales increase, buoyed by its sponsorship of football and music events.

The ale sector continues to struggle against lager, which holds 76% of the total beer market, although John Smith's Extra Smooth entered the top 10 with a 24% sales increase based on strong retail exposure.

The boundary between premium and standard lager is blurring, as prices in the premium sector fall due to promotions. The challenge for lager is to drive value back into the category.

SPIRITS - £1460m-£1465m

The spirits category has grown steadily this year, roughly in line with alcohol as a whole. The number of households buying spirits was static, but the average spend per household rose from £136 to £145.

Whisky performed strongly, but the fortunes of individual brands show a lack of consumer loyalty in the sector. The Famous Grouse was up 6% this year, compared with an 8% decline last year, whereas Bells fell 18% this year after a 14% rise last year.

Baileys is the biggest brand in the category by a considerable margin, growing sales by 27% last year. It relies on Christmas for the bulk of its sales, and last year enjoyed unprecedented accessibility in supermarkets.

The number of households buying it rose by 1.2m last Christmas, making it the second-biggest alcohol brand in penetration.

Despite heavy competition from own-label products, Gordon's Gin increased its sales by 10%, helped by the 'Colourful gin' TV ads launched last November, and subsequently augmented with a print and poster campaign for the main brand and its Sloe Gin and Distiller's Cut variants.

The challenge facing spirits manufacturers is to increase the category's appeal to younger people and home drinkers. 'They have to get to grips with the off-market, which is where the drinks market as a whole is heading,' says a TNS Superpanel analyst.

TOP 10 WINE Rank Brand Value % 2005 2004 (pounds m) chng 1 1 Hardys 160-165 6 2 2 Blossom Hill 85-90 12 3 5 Stowells of Chelsea 75-80 26 4 4 Ernest & Julio Gallo 70-75 17 5 3 Jacob's Creek 70-75 14 6 8 Kumala 65-70 51 7 6 Banrock Station 45-50 -8 8 7 Lindemans 45-50 -3 9 9 Namaqua 40-45 14 10 10 Isla Negra 25-30 45 Source: TNS Superpanel TOP 10 BEER Rank Brand Value % 2005 2004 (pounds m) chng 1 1 Stella Artois 310-315 1 2 2 Carling 150-155 3 3 6 Carlsberg 100-105 43 4 3 Grolsch 95-100 0 5 4 Foster's 85-90 8 6 5 Budweiser 65-70 13 7 8 Kronenbourg 1664 65-70 0 8 7 Carlsberg Export 65-70 -7 9 9 Guinness Draught 45-50 6 10 10 John Smith's Ex. Smooth 35-40 24 Source: TNS Superpanel TOP 10 SPIRITS Rank Brand Value % 2005 2004 (pounds m) chng 1 2 Baileys (excl Glide, Minis) 90-95 27 2 3 Smirnoff Red Vodka 70-75 8 3 1 Bells Scotch Whisky 65-70 -18 4 4 The Famous Grouse 60-65 6 5 7 Gordon's Gin 55-60 10 6 6 Bacardi White Rum 50-55 2 7 8 Teachers Scotch Whisky 45-50 -1 8 9 Grant's Scotch Whisky 45-50 12 9 5 Grant's Vodka 45-50 -13 10 10 Three Barrels Brandy 25-30 34 Source: TNS Superpanel