Happy Monday everyone. Here is today’s wine update:

Millions and Counting
Last year, 300 million cases of wine were consumed in the US, amounting to $25 billion in sales. We are still behind the big European countries (France, Italy, and Germany) in terms of real consumption. But our growth in headed North while they face the opposite trends. Keep buying! (Bloomberg.com)

On the Block
The Napa Valley Wine Auction, a prestigious charity event, drew a spectacular crowd once again this year. The event raised over $8.4 million for local charities. One prize topped the $1 million mark - a tour of French wine country led by the Staglin family. Other highlights included Geena Davis touting a role on the ABC made-for-tv movied based on her cancelled show, which was purchased for $300,000, and MK Hoo of Hong Kong purchasing a Screaming Eagle for $460,000 (he declined to raise his bid when Davis offered to have him at a Hollywood dinner party at her house). And then there was the host - Ryan Seacrest. His American Idol backstage passes seeemed cheap at $35,000. The host spent more than a few lines defending his love of ‘wine and women.’ Ha - no comment. (Napa Valley Register)

Oregon Gets The Bug
Planners approved the initial plans for a hill-top boutique resort in Oregon wine country. It will be the first of its kind in the state. I am a bit surprised it took so long, but the state isn’t in the clear yet. There remain some outstanding appeals that could continue to postpone the plans. (Oregon Live)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 5th, 2006 at 7:42 am and is filed under Daily Tasting Flight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.