A couple of really interesting articles at Market Watch and at Decanter in the last week really gave some insights into how Spanish wine is performing in the current crisis market.  According to Market Watch, Spanish imports are performing better than average in the US wine market, and particularly when you compare their numbers to other major European wine exporters such as French, Italy and Germany.   The value of Spanish table wines increased 5% in 2008 while cava imports performed even better at 9%….obviously cava is good recession alternative to Champagne!  The Decanter article addresses the situation in the UK market, Spanish wines declined in volume by 3% but remained stable in value.  Hopefully this shows that UK and US consumers that Spanish wines offer great value at very inexpensive price points, but also at higher price points.   It’s great to see Spanish wines performing so well in this difficult market…certainly the quality and value of the product on offer merits the recognition of the consumer.  The Decanter article’s main theme was that Rioja imports had declined as compared to their rival regions.  Just as interesting is the comment posted by the UK office of Wines from Rioja, denying any slump in Rioja sales in the UK!  Decanter doesn’t provide any assessment of Rioja’s decline, but I have been thinking of a few.  Read on for some more thoughts….

 Various media sources came out this week citing a new study that shows that event the moderate consumption of alcohol in woman increases their risk of cancer.    In recent years drinking wine in moderation has been cited as being heart healthy.   This new study, which tracked 1 million women, concluded that just one drink a day of any kind, increases your overall cancer risk by 6% up to the age of 75 years old.  This does not necessarily eradicate the good influences a glass of wine each evening has, but it certainly puts a damper on the drinking for health love fest that has abounded for the past few years.  I do not feel too dismayed by all this; I figure that lots of what I do has some kind of nefarious effect on my heath.  I certainly hope that we do not see the kind of extreme reaction that we saw over the French paradox in the early 90’s, when thousands switched to red wine from white because in theory the French eat butter and do not die of heart attacks.  We have to remember that in our modern lives, we are constantly exposed to chemicals and emanations that surely impact our health tremendously.  We can hardly go through life cutting out anything that might have a negative impact…we would also eliminate much of what make sour lives so rich and interesting.  We take risks everyday just by leaving out houses, driving, travelling etc.  The benefits of wine lie not only in its health impact or in the effect it’s alcohol has upon us….it is so much more….wine is an important relaxation tool in our busy lives.  We often disconnect from our hectic lives while sipping a glass of wine after work or with our friends.  Though it may sound excessive to some, for me wine is an art form that also provides physical pleasure to the senses.  A theoretical 6% more risk of cancer cannot outweigh wine’s vital place in my life and my well-being.  So here’s one woman who will not give up her daily glass…..