Here's the outlook for wine in 2008, according to my infallible crystal wine glass:

With the dollar so weak, the only thing that's held European wine prices down is that importers were desperate to keep you loyal over the holidays. But they've held out as long as they can, and you'll soon see Old World wine prices soar.

This will change American buying trends. One thing we will do is discover America. Not Napa and Sonoma, the other America. We'll finally become aware that each of our 50 states makes wine, some of it very good. Including New York, Virginia, Texas and, yup, Colorado.

We'll also explore other nooks and crannies of the bargain world. Argentina, which can somehow never keep its currency in order, will still be a deal. Wine from Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania, despite the EU, is still cheap and getting much better. Lesser-known regions of the traditional countries are also good bets, like parts of the Rhone and Loire valleys, the Languedoc, areas of Italy like Campania and Sicily and much of Spain.

Europe, feeling the sucking sensation of sales slipping down the drain, will hold its nose and Americanize, allowing producers to dumb down their labels, blend different regions and allow wood chips for flavoring. Traditionalists and protectionists will call this Europlonk, and they'll protest so thunderously that the EU will be compelled to do what comes naturally - i.e., pay farmers to dig up 200,000 hectares of vines.

Meanwhile, French producers will tackle the crisis by knocking over tollbooths and pouring wine into the streets. Then they'll drink what's left, eat lunch and take a nap.

Furthermore:

* Green will be the new red. As the chic of organic, save-the-earth sensibilities creeps over the pond to us, you'll see more and more wines touted as "organic," "bio" and "sustainable."

* As wine's health benefits become indisputable and nutritional information appears on the back label, consumers will want wine to do even more than fix their plaque and hypertension. This will result in a new breed of superwines, fortified with stimulants, relaxants, aphrodisiacs and something purported to grow hair.

* Wine will be a big presence on the screen. Two new wine movies are coming out, though neither will affect the business the way Sideways did. The search is on for hot new hosts for wine TV shows - we'll soon be watching the vinous equivalent of Rachael Ray.

* On the Internet, besides YouTube reels of USB spigots and audacious spills, we'll be surfing cellar-note sharing programs, Facebook-like social sites and wine programs you download to your handheld.

* Internet power will finally cause the laws against direct shipping - still holding sway in many states - to crumble, as consumers demand the right to order wine from their favorite vineyards.

* Screw caps will continue to overtake cork. You'll read a lot about alternative packaging like juice boxes and thermoses, but you'll still have trouble finding drinkable wine in them. Rose will be hot. Wine bars, featuring flights of unusual vintages paired with odd bits of food on sticks, will flourish. So will Tupperware-style home parties, featuring wine games and home-blending.

* The millennial generation, embracing wine like none before it and brandishing plastic, has provoked critter and girly labels, wine books for dummies and seminars filled with special effects. Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart have released their own wines. Can Oprah and Britney be far behind?

* The democratization of wine may have reached its peak. There's only one solution for prospective trend-setters: a new snob-chic. It will once again be in to blabber about vintages and show off your cellar crammed with high-rated wines you paid too much for and don't even like.

You heard it here first.

Jester@corkjester.com

Recommended

White

* Covey Run Chenin Blanc 2005 (U.S.), $8

* Veramonte Reserva Chardonnay 2006 (Chile), $10

* Stevenot Persuasion Verdelho 2006 (U.S.), $11

* Two Angels Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (U.S.), $15

RED

* Les Jamelles Pinot Noir 2005 (France), $9

* Chateau de Gaudou Cahors 2003 (France), $9

* Taurino Riserva Salice Salentino 2001 (Italy), $12

* Tin Roof Merlot 2005 (U.S.), $13