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New research by Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a wine industry consulting firm, shows that the United States are now the world's largest consumer of wine. The growth in wine consumption has led to an increase in American wine production too, especially in non-traditional wine regions like Illinois and New York, as opposed to California.

These 'new American' winemakers, as they are called, mostly do not come from family wine estates, but often abandon other careers to start making wine. As a result, local wine is also becoming more readily available in stores and restaurants.

With the current American credit crisis and the effect it is having on the world economy and foreign trade, it should be interesting to see if more South African wineries will try to penetrate this growing market.