06/12/08 Wine Consumption p. 4

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Yesterday we discussed some of the influences to increasing wine consumption in the United States. Today we will continue our series examining the world's "taste" for wine. Do you ever wonder who is really profiting from all of this increased awareness and consumption of wine? Wine producers are seeing demand for their product rise steadily. The varieties most demanded by consumers include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir and Riesling, so producers of those wines stand to benefit even more. Both domestic and foreign producers are affected by this rise in demand - around half of regular wine drinkers have purchased wine from Italy, France, or Australia, three of the biggest wine-producing countries. Large producers of spirits are to some extent also benefiting from the same general trends that are increasing wine consumption - a demand for more unique and higher quality alcoholic beverages. Spirits sales in the US were up 3.2% in 2007, not far behind wine's 4% rise. However, the demand for wine is growing faster than the demand for spirits and this is likely to continue. That is fine with me because as far as I am concerned competition only increases the diversity and ups the quality of wines available to us in the market. Join me tomorrow as we conclude this week long series addressing wine consumption in the Us and throughout the world, and thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.