Figures released by growers yesterday showed German wines are not only fetching their highest-ever prices worldwide but sales of more expensive bottles are booming in the US and Britain.

Ernst Buscher, a spokesman for the German Wine Institute which is responsible for marketing the country's wines abroad, said: "In America alone German wines sales were worth more than $100m last year. That has sent a powerful signal to the rest of the world."

In Britain, sales of German wines priced over 15 per bottle or more have risen by a massive 125% over the past two years, with some sold in London restaurants fetching as much as 300 per bottle.

German wines are benefiting from the so-called ABC or "Anything But Chardonnay" mood among white-wine drinkers in the US who have grown bored with the country's most widely-grown white grape. Instead, consumers are opting for high-quality dry and sweet Riesling wines, of which Germany produces two-thirds of the world's quota.

There has also been a significant increase in the consumption of German red and rose wines. Most of the red comes from the Pinot Noir grape, and Germany is the world's third largest producer.

In Germany, a steady increase in wine sales has been mirrored by a gradual decline in beer consumption. The boom has been strongest in the red wine sector, which accounted for 51% of the wine market in the first half of this year.

Johannes Hager, a vintner at one of Germany's premier wine estates in the Pfalz region near the border with France, said:

"We are no longer interested in mass production. We did that in the '70s and bitterly regretted it, " he said.