<div><strong>1.&nbsp; US Wine market growing:&nbsp; set to be biggest in 2010 (1 Feb 2006)</strong></div><div><br />Several pieces of news over the past few months indicate that the US is becoming the hot wine market! <br />First there was the&nbsp;October 2006 Gallup poll that wine is in a dead heat with beer as America's favorite beverage.&nbsp; In 1992, beer beat wine 47% to 27%.&nbsp; American wine consumption continues to grow and at the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium held last week in California, wine analyst Jon Fredrikson confirmed that the furture of wine in the US looks bright.&nbsp; He said that if the US wine market continues to grow at a modest rate of 3% per year, by the end of the decade it will be the top global wine market.&nbsp; Right now the US stands third behind France and Italy in wine consumption.&nbsp;&nbsp; In 2004 the US wine market grew by 4 percent.&nbsp; An important factor is that wine consumption is growing rapidly in the critical age group of 29 to 40.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </div><br /><div><strong>2.&nbsp; Harvest report for 2005:&nbsp; mixed results for Spain (1 Feb 2006)</strong></div><br /><div>The 2005 harvest was dominated by the drought that Spain has suffered for over a year.&nbsp; Drought conditions restrict yields and production levels were lower than in 2004.&nbsp; Despite the lack of rain, temperatures were not overly high.&nbsp;&nbsp; In general the north fared better than southern regions.&nbsp; Northwestern Spain and Rioja are cited as excellent, while Ribera del Duero suffered from some frost damage in September.&nbsp; Toro, Rueda, and Catalonia all produced small qualntities of&nbsp;healthy and generally concentrated fruit.&nbsp; Otehr regions produced mixed results, with top winemakers making some very good wines.&nbsp; Older vines and vineyards with drip irrigation produced better results in general.&nbsp; </div><br /><div>France 2005: generally a very good year&nbsp;with Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgandy, the Rhone and the Loire Valley all having a very good to outstanding year.</div><br /><br /><div><strong>3.&nbsp; International Wine Challenge:&nbsp; Winner a 13 euro wine from Ribera del Duero (15 Oct 05)<br /></strong><br />Though this is an older news article, it is still exciting because the cited wine will soon be released.<br /><br />The International Wine Challenge is held every year in London and every year over 9,000 wines are judged.&nbsp; In 2005, a 13 euro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon won top honors in the red wine division.&nbsp; The wine is Abadia Retuerta Selecci&oacute;n Especial 2001.&nbsp; The wine has not been released yet and there are waiting lists at several wine stores as demand is expected to far exceed supply.&nbsp; <br />The winery, though founded in 1996, has vineyards that were planted in 1970s.&nbsp; All 54 parcels of grpaes are handled and vinified separately.<br />The wine is generally 75% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot.&nbsp; It is aged 18 months in French and American oak.<br />Sign up for some at your local wine store!</div>