By KRISTEN WOLFE BIELER

AMERICANS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO WELCOME WINE TO THE TABLE, but welcome it we have. Consumption has been climbing since 1994, and three years ago wine eclipsed beer as the preferred alcoholic beverage in the U.S. While we are in no danger of out-drinking some Europeans (we consumed 9 liters per capita in 2007; the French and Italians consumed 52 liters and 46 liters, respectively) our daily dose has made us the number-two wine-consuming country in the world with a 269 million case total last year. Experts predict we will knock Italy out of the top spot by 2010.

That makes us mighty attractive to wine producers both domestic and foreign, who are courting the American palate—particularly due to the influx of Generation X adults and the coveted Millennial demographic now coming of age—with a dizzying array of high-quality bottles. Gone are the “Chardonnay-or-Merlot” days: consumers now have an unprecedented spirit of adventure, and producers are answering the call.

Grapes for Early Adopters
“Today’s wine drinker is the most open-minded consumer I’ve ever seen, partly as a reflection of how much variety is out there,” says Peter Eastlake, owner of Vintage Berkeley, a wine shop in Berkeley, Calif. While the big three—Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot—still overwhelmingly dominate (with 21 percent, 15 percent and 12 percent market share, respectively) consumer curiosity has paved the way for many new grape varieties.

One trend Josh Wesson, senior director of wine, beer and spirits, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P) and founder of Best Cellars wine stores, has noticed is the increasing hipness of “Rodney Dangerfield (‘no respect’) grapes that hail from specific, often limited places, such as Torrontes from Argentina, Carmènere from Chile, Pinotage from South Africa and Blaufränkisch from Hungary. We all want new taste sensations that brand us palate pioneers or, at least, early adopters.”

What’s Hot Right Now
These wines are flying off the shelves as consumers are finding new favorites.

White: The Reign of Riesling
In the world of white, Riesling is the undisputed darling du jour. It’s the fastest growing white wine, and in each wine-growing region where it thrives—Germany, Australia, New Zealand and California—demand outstrips supply. Many new releases are crafted in fruit-forward, sweeter styles and, thanks to the “talk dry, drink sweet” phenomenon (by which consumers profess an affinity for dry wines when in practice they prefer higher sugar content), Riesling is particularly appealing to the American palate. Benefiting also from Chardonnay backlash and the explosion of Asian and spicy cuisines that work so well with the grape, Riesling sales grew 98 percent in retail outlets between 2006 and 2008.

Riesling’s critical mass is evidenced by its success at the Morton’s Steakhouse chain—normally a bastion of Cabernet drinking. In recent months, Riesling has become the workhorse of Morton’s by-the-glass program, says Tyolor Field, vice president, wine and spirits. “People are getting away from Chardonnay, and Riesling gives people the flavors they are looking for.”

Peter Click of Seattle’s Click Wine Group has built his company by accurately predicting the next hottest grape variety. He wisely bet on Riesling a few years ago when he introduced his Clean Slate brand from Germany’s Mosel region. It is currently the fourth largest German brand, and he followed up with Flying Fish Riesling from Washington State. “This is what is so interesting about Riesling—its versatility and diversity of styles. Our two Rieslings are so different, and both are showing tremendous growth especially in on-premise by-the-glass placements. They offer the perfect counterbalance to Chardonnay.”

The shift away from oak flavors to aromatic wines with higher acidity benefits other alternative whites too. Pinot Grigio/Gris and Sauvignon Blanc are stars, as are more obscure Grüner Veltliner, Viognier and whites from Greece, Spain and France’s Rhône Valley. Even Chardonnay producers are taking the cue, emphasizing fruit flavors and toning down oak and buttery notes.

Red: Is Malbec the New Cabernet?
If Riesling is the new Chardonnay, then Argentina’s Malbec grape is the new Cabernet. Click saw this coming, and his recently launched offering, High Note, is riding the wave. “While I don’t believe volumetrically that Malbec will compete with Cabernet or Merlot, it has many of the same great characteristics that have driven consumers to embrace both of these reds—it is soft and supple like Merlot with the complex and bigger taste profile of Cabernet.”

When describing Malbec to his restaurant customers, Field uses the word bacon. “Malbec has a big, smoky, flavorful taste profile, and offers huge value for the money.” He is seeing incredible growth for the variety, owing partly to the positive exchange rate we have been able to maintain with South America, which makes their wines more affordable than many European examples.

“Argentinean producers are absolutely benefiting from the price increases on European wines,” agrees Darren Restivo, marketing director for Biagio Cru and Estate Wines, a Long Island-based importer that represents La Riojana, Argentina’s third largest producer. “Malbec is the next great frontier in red wine: It has a taste profile that Americans want, and delivers exceptional depth and structure for the price. It is somewhere between a fruit-forward new-world wine and a classic, more structured old-world wine from France or Italy.”

Pink: Here-to-Stay Rosés
Rosé wines have been on fire for the past five years. As American consumers finally understand that all pink wines aren’t sweet, dry rosé is one of the marketplace’s fastest-growing categories, up double digits the past three years, and is no longer confined to the most sophisticated wine markets nationwide. Heavily dominated by imports (which account for 23 percent of rosé table wine dollar sales) and still led by France, the category now includes high-quality Spanish, Italian and New Zealand examples. Several of the biggest U.S. wine companies entered the segment with new offerings this year—always an indication of a trend that’s here to stay.

Regions to Watch
A&P’s Wesson sees consumers hunting for up-and-coming regions, too—“not necessarily new wine-producing countries, but emerging regions located within well-known countries.” He lists Bio-Bio in Chile; Patagonia in Argentina; Tasmania in Australia; Marche in Italy; or Bierzo in Spain as examples.

The search for the next new place has created a sales spike for imported wines: They accounted for 31 percent of total U.S. sales last year and their sales are rising faster than domestic wines. They also made up 70 percent of all new brand introductions in the same time period.

Eastlake points his customers to Portugal: “The cool thing about Portuguese wines is that they have enough of the generous berry and fruit richness to lure in the California-style palate, but they also have the balance and dry finish that appeals to a more European-leaning palate. Plus, they offer great value.”

With so much competition from new, quality-driven regions, traditional areas need to reinvent themselves in order to keep up. French wines, which have had to endure price increases as a result of the poor exchange rate, are suffering. According to Serge Lozach, managing director of Sopexa, an organization that promotes the foods and wines of France, while sales of luxury French wines are still strong, sales of “meat and potato” wines—“where the average French producer makes his money”—are way off. The key to bouncing back is through innovation and branding, he is convinced. “The French need to create brands like the Australians have done. Compared to new-world wines, there is little branding, and in the under-$15 category, this is what the American consumer is looking for. Branded products have a much better chance of battling the exchange rate.”

While Italy battles the same weak U.S. dollar issue, their wines are still growing across the price spectrum here. Why? According to Piergiorgio Castellani, Jr., co-owner, Castellani Wines, Italy’s largest producer of Chianti wine, “The weak American economy has pushed the consumer toward good quality-price ratio wines, and this is where Italian wines perform best.”

A Recession-Proof Beverage
Wine sales weather recessions better than most consumer goods or luxury items, too, as our increased consumption in spite of the economic downturn illustrates. But we do buy differently:  “We’re not eating or drinking less, but we sure are spending less on what we’re consuming,” says Wesson. “The era of conspicuous consumption is over, baby. Today, it’s all about affordable pleasures.”

Of which there are many, adds Eastlake. “A lot of basic European wines are much more expensive now, and that’s when people turn to Argentina, or southern France and Italian regions like Puglia. There are still many places that make wine with strong individual character in that price range. My customers are much more budget-minded with their purchases.”

Companies like Click Wine Group, which has always operated in this price range, only benefit when buyers start trading down into the $10-$15 range. “We can give consumers some  great quality wines at a price point where they are still willing to experiment,” says Click. “We don’t believe that there will be a huge migration below $10 even with the softness in the economy. The industry has proven fairly resilient to economic changes in the past. There will certainly be some people that decide to purchase a $7 bottle of wine instead of their regular $12 bottle, but we anticipate that this will be somewhat counterbalanced by other consumers trading down from $17 to $13.”

Adding Wine to the Product Mix
The economic times provide another reason for specialty food retailers to consider adding wine to their offerings (in states that allow it): Research shows that consumers are reducing their shopping trips in order to conserve gas and favor merchants who provide one-stop-shopping opportunities. Many are already capitalizing on this trend—the number of gourmet stores that sell wine grew by 24 percent in 2007. Consumers who buy wine are also proven to spend more in general, by complementing wine purchases with high-margin premium goods. Besides, being small and specialty is an advantage when it comes to wine, says Eastlake. “The only way for consumers to navigate the ever-widening sea of selection is to rely on small merchants. People are increasingly reliant on attentive retailers to turn them onto new wines and regions.”

Kristen Wolfe Bieler is a contributor to City, GQ and Woman’s Day magazine.