2010 Economy: thumbs down. 2010 Wine consumption: thumbs up.

The Nielsen Company (yes, the same ones that track TV ratings also track many other domestic product stats, including wine sales) 2010 report found that the Milennial generation is buying the most and the Baby Boomers the least. Retail wine sales were strong and restaurant sales improved but reports show most folks are STILL staying home to dine and buying wine to go with that meal. Domestic sales improved but wine from Argentina, New Zealand continued to grow. Nielsen Reports say a smattering of wine drinkers DID move up in the price point, buying wines in the $20 and higher but most are still relishing the amazing values in the $15 and under price point. Pinot Noir, Malbec, Riesling and Moscato were the grapes of most interest to wine drinkers in 2010 according to this report.

If that means you... then I might suggest the following easily found at area wine shoppes:

McManis Pinot Noir, Vampire Pinot Noir, Cuma Malbec, Casa de Campos Malbec, Tercos Malbec, Shine Riesling, Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Luscious Moscato, Malvasia Moscato

Get ready for a NEW quarterly magazine on the Indianapolis newsstands in June 2011.

edible Indy focuses on local, sustainable food sources and the people who work the land to bring this bounty to our tables.

I meet with publisher Cathy Bayse (who is former Warfleigh resident and now Nora dweller) this week so will have MORE info in my next column.

Jess Stonestreet Jackson, the Bay Area lawyer who turned his burgeoning wine interest into a billion-dollar business and made Chardonnay a household beverage with his Kendall-Jackson label, died of complications from cancer Thursday April 21 at his home in Geyserville, California. He was 81.

His colleagues called him a visionary who took risks to ensure quality in his vineyards and later in life, horse racing.

Mr. Jackson was raised in San Francisco during the Great Depression and worked as a longshoreman and a police officer. He put himself through UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law, later using his legal background to help reform the horse racing industry, a business he was as passionate about as he was about wine. He also used those legal talents to conduct a style of business some found heavy-handed.

A member of the Vintners Hall of Fame, Mr. Jackson and his first wife, Jane Kendall, produced their first wine under the Kendall-Jackson label in 1982 from an 80-acre Lakeport pear and walnut orchard he'd purchased, replanted with grapes and initially called Chateau du Lac.

He turned Kendall-Jackson's Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay, made with a touch of leftover sugar so as to go easy on the palates of budding wine drinkers, into one of the country's best-selling wines. Eventually, the Jackson family bought labels such as La Crema, Cambria, Murphy Goode and La Jota, plus foreign properties in France and Chile.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jess Jackson several years ago while judging the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The judges dinner was held at Kendall Jackson winery in Sonoma county. Mr. Jackson was a gracious host. He and I talked about horse racing as I told him I was a regular at the Kentucky Derby and you could see the gleam in his eyes as he talked about his horses. He was flying to Kentucky the next day and asked if I wanted a ride. I laughed, but he was serious.

If you like the K-J style of Chardonnay I might also suggest the following found in area wine shoppes: Lot 205 Chardonnay, Opera Prima Chardonnay, Rombauer Chardonnay, Line 39 Chardonnay.