A world of wine
By Wine Atlas, Monday 19 December 2005 :: Wine - United-States :: #95 :: rss
If you're looking for the perfect wine-related holiday present, consider a grand tour of the world's vineyards -- in a box.
There has never been a better time to give the gift of global wine, as we were reminded recently when talking with Roger Esser, manager of Cyclone Liquors in Ames, Iowa. Just five years ago, he says, his store's shelves were pretty much stocked with wines from the United States and big names like Italy and France. But then, Mr. Esser says, he noticed a dramatic transformation. Wines started coming into the States from emerging wine regions from all around the world. Cyclone underwent a major reorganization then to showcase the wines -- and has undergone two or three more as wines from other regions have become available. Now there are separate areas labeled Greece, Austria, Hungary, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. The Spain section has ballooned. "We have a lot of people who come in with an open mind and want to try something new," Mr. Esser explained. "A lot of people have become hooked on gruner veltliner, for example." These wines, he added, "are value-priced, too."
Cyclone's transformation is no aberration. In 1991, about one in eight bottles of wine drunk in America came from other countries. By last year, even though Americans are drinking more wine, that figure was better than one in four. While much of the increase in wine from other countries is the result of the surge of imports from Australia, it's also part of a larger pattern that springs from Americans' increasingly adventurous wine palates and the spread of democracy around the world.
In country after country from Chile to South Africa to Eastern Europe the barriers to making good wine and exporting it have fallen. The result: A golden period of wine-drinking in which Americans can try interesting wines from all over the world. Not only that, but the international competition has kept prices down, so, as Mr. Esser pointed out, it's also a golden period for wine bargains.
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