If I had to place Russia as the next likeliest big market for wine, I probably would have placed it pretty far down on the list, in the company of Iraq, Egypt, and Malaysia. Yet here’s an interesting piece about how wine consumption in Russia is climbing at a rate approaching 25% per year. Which is, incidentally, the same growth rate as India, which has no competing national drink. Spain, for one, is getting in on the action. Rising incomes and the near death of any shred of local wine industry are driving people to seek out foreign wines.

Will wine ever really compete with the beloved and ubiquitous vodka? Who knows. But if I were a big wine company, I’d be working on a sympatichna sequel to Red Bicyclette. Maybe they could call it Red Square.