$1,008,259,000 is the number, so the billion was passed with a whisker. That’s the value of American wine exports in 2008 which was an increase with 6%. More than 90% of the wine comes from California. Wine is, according to Linsey Gallagher, marketing director at The Wine Institute, California’s second largest export product. USA is now, according to the WI, the world’s fourth larges exporter of wine. Half of the exports go to the EU and a quarter to Canada. The Wine Institute seems particularly proud of the fact that they have reached second position in the ranking of wine suppliers to the UK, relegating France to third place (Australia is biggest). Fifteen years ago exports were a modest $196 million.
