People everywhere are buying and drinking California wine more than ever before. But we're still in a global recession, so they're drinking cheaper bottles of wine.
According to new figures released from the Wine Institute, sales of California wines totaled about 467 million gallons last year. That's up 2 percent from 2007.
And foreigners are enjoying Golden State vino too. U.S. wine exports topped the $1 billion sales mark for the first time in 2008. And 90 percent of that wine is from California.
But wine lovers are choosing their bottles carefully and not spending extravagantly. The total retail value of sales last year is down from 2007.
So what kinds of wine to people love the drink the most? The top sellers are chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and white zinfandel.
