Why do France and Italy have so much lower beer consumption than their neighbors? Consider the map of per capita beer consumption by county from Wikipedia:



Zooming in on Europe, something that jumps out is that France and Italy consume much less beer than their neighbors:



What has caused these two countries to be pretty much surrounded by other countries with higher beer consumption? I would imagine to some degree this is caused by replacing beer consumption with wine consumption, but what led to these regional differences in alcohol preferences?
You are correct that in countries like France and Italy, beer consumption is replaced by much higher wine consumption.   

Why?  Because they can.  

It's a cultural difference that has been developed and ingrained over many centuries, back to when trade was more limited and more difficult, and Northern Europe was colder than it is today.   For much of that time, the climate in Southern Europe was ideal for growing grapes and producing wine, while it was simply too cold further north. So, Southern Europe produced and drank wine, Northern Europe produced and drank beer, thus creating regional preferences that persist even to this day.