More corks popping as wine sales rise

 The wine usually starts flowing around the holidays -- and this year, wine sellers are happy to say, it's flowing a little more.

After a slow holiday season in 2008 and a rough year, wine outlets, both bars and stores, are seeing better days. During the weekend before Thanksgiving -- considered something of an economic bellwether for wine -- sales were higher compared with the same weekend last year, when jittery consumers scaled back as the recession deepened.

Wine consumption in the U.S. had climbed steadily for several years, but in 2008, sales fell for the first time since 1993, according to the California Wine Institute.

But 2009 could shape up to be a better year, particularly if holiday sales continue on a comeback track. That's big news for an industry that produced about $30 billion in sales in 2008.

Sarah Theodore, a senior analyst at Mintel International, a consumer research group that tracks the wine business, recently released a report forecasting better sales this year and renewed momentum that American wine sales have experienced over the last three decades.