First reaction

At least it sounds positive (alarmed by the possibility):
http://fora.erobertparker.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=031305

I believe that pulling out Spanish troops from Iraq is not going to have any commercial impact on the Spanish exports to the US. If all the problems of Spanish wineries were these... .-)

Yep, I agree with Juan. I do not see any danger of retaliation.... but who knows....

Well, I read a LOT of BS concerning French wine in WS during the early days of the war, and you all remember the boycott. Spanish wine is the same, but America may perceive Spain is (now) different (different from the former Spain, not just the topic here :^). I still believe Spanish wine exports benefited from the French boycott, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another silly reaction followed...

I don’t think these issues previously had any effect whatsoever, for either French or Spanish wine, and there is no reason to believe this will change.

I agree with you Gastro , there were some importants american investments , that today are stopped, because the results of spanish elections. One of the largest relationed with jabugo´s ham. Why not wine bussines?. Poor Banderas!

What you read and reality here are likely two different things. Sure, there were probably plenty of anecdotes for journalists looking for a story to write about, but it didn’t amount to much. Any suggestion that anti-French (or anti-Spanish) sentiment would lead to a trade embargo is ludicrous. There may have been some rhetoric - NOT governmental rhetoric - about a French wine boycott by some who were not wine buyers anyway. Do you really think that such marginal rhetoric was sufficient to slow the tidal wave of demand for 2000 Bordeaux, for example? Certainly not that I could detect.

Did French wine imports to the US decline on a percentage basis last year? Almost certainly. But after being in a hugely dominant position in the import market forever, French imports have been steadily eroded for about 10 years by wines from the US, OZ, Spain, and elsewhere. Why? Mostly because wines from elsewhere are now in a better position to compete as a matter of quality. It wasn’t all that long ago that a restaurant or dinner host would be embarrased to serve a wine from New Zealand or South Africa. No more. France’s problem is not international politics, it is competition.

Weeelllll ... I agree with (almost) everyone! ... I think US people can go into all kind of exagerations when it gets to 1) patriotism, 2) kids, 3) sex (remember what happened with the one half nude breast barely guessed for 2 seconds: alive transmissions have come to an end!!!!! incredible ... ). However, people who love wine are not very likely to get into these extremes (there is a high negative correlation :-D))) ... so, no concerns, I don’t think :-))

MaJesus