American Wines

Lookout Europe, you are in danger of losing your long time first place standing in not only wine production but wine consumption. A while back I reported that some American wines were winning rave reviews and wine competitions around the globe. Now it appears that we here in the “New World” are also becoming a country of serious wine drinkers. For the first time the United States has actually exceeded Italy in total wine consumption, and European vineyards reportedly produced under half of the world’s grape production. I may be prejudiced, but I personally feel that the wine growers here in the Pacific Northwest produce some of the finest wines to be had anywhere; and their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds. While the global economic crisis has seen the sales of European wines slowly receding, the sales of U.S. wines are anything but, with sales rising nearly thirty percent. So cheers America, I raise my glass to you; and that would be of course a glass of very fine American wine.