It's the Economy, Stupid. I'll drink to that.

In today's newspaper and Wine Business newsfeeds there were several articles about the economy and its impact on the wine industry. The Sacramento Bee had an informative article, to look at. Last night watching The Colbert Report, Maria Bartiromo was the guest, talking about the stock market. It has been a wild ride, with long reaching effects on our daily lives. From consumers not spending money to eat out, to wine drinkers trading down to a more affordable brand of wine, the wine industry is feeling it just as much. But as the article pointed out, even when people aren't eating out, they are still drinking wine at home. Whenever I talk about the economy and the wine industry, people always quip that drinking is one thing that is recession proof. While I think that is an oversimplification, wine sales continue to be strong. I've decided that I will take Maria's advise and diversify. I'm putting my money in several different assets, and buying a wide range of wines--a few of those cult wines to age in the cellar for healthy returns, some luxury wines to impress guests, and a few cases of $2 Chuck. I guess right now for the proper Return on Investment, I should be drinking the $2 Chuck when I look at my stocks' performance.