California Winery (© Galina Barskaya | Dreamstime.com)

The falling U.S. dollar may be bringing ever rising food and fuel prices for Americans, but the weak dollar has also made wine from California look like a bargain in the eyes of wine lovers abroad.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that wine exports grew by almost 9% to a record $951 million in 2007. The Wine Institute, a major industry trade group, says California wineries make 95% of the U.S. wine sold overseas. Wines from California are sold in 125 countries and much of the recent growth in exports has been among wines sold at premium price points.

The United States remains as the world’s largest market for wine. In 2007, Americans drank more than $30 billion woth of wine, a 4% increase over the previous year.

If you’d like to read the article in the L.A. Times cited above go to: Salud: Vintners raise a glass to the weaker dollar

If you’d like to listen to a podcast interview with the Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group go to: A Talk with the Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group

If you’d like to listen to a podcast interview with Bouchaine Vineyards in Napa Valley go to: A Talk With Bouchaine Vineyards' Lee Hodo