U.S. consumers gained a lot of new looks at wine in the last year, but only those adventurous enough to take advantage of the news benefited.

It all started with the release of the film "Sideways" in 2004, in which the lead character goes on a quest to find a great pinot noir in California's Central Coast.

The fact that this sleazy character is a near, if not actual, alcoholic who steals money from his own mother didn't seem to tarnish the message of this often-hilarious film. Tens of thousands of wine lovers drove through the verdant Santa Barbara hills throughout 2005, following the path taken by the film's antihero.

This frenetic activity by wine tourists spurred pinot noir sales to heights local wineries never imagined. And just when the impact of the film seemed to wane, it began airing on cable and satellite channels, reinvigorating the pinot quest.

In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not discriminate against in-state wineries, thereby opening the door for wineries to ship directly to consumers in other states. As a result, many state laws changed to accommodate direct shipping to consumers in other states. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's signature went on a new Michigan law within the last week.

The major impact was for wine lovers who wanted to get their mitts on the great rieslings of New York and Michigan as well as some of the exciting wines of Virginia, Missouri and Texas. And Washington and Oregon benefited from interest by nonresidents in their increasingly excellent wines.

Consolidation continued with the world's largest wine company, Constellation Brands, formally taking over the Robert Mondavi Winery in January and then later acquiring the successful HRM Rex Goliath wine brand.

Imported wines continued to make a huge impact in the United States, with Australian wine reaching above 22 million cases in U.S. sales in 2005. New Zealand sales sailed off the charts, and Spanish red wines made a huge move forward, notably in restaurants. And Argentine and Chilean upscale brands hit U.S. shores.

Another trend that started in 2004 continued in '05 as a huge percentage of wines were offered in screw-capped bottles. Not only did Bonny Doon of Santa Cruz and Hogue Cellars of Washington switch exclusively to screw caps, but so did a number of $10-range U.S. wine brands that were launched to compete with lower-priced Aussie wines.

The famed $2 wines from Bronco Wine Co., under the name Charles Shaw, continued to sell at the Trader Joe's chain of stores, with numerous competitors hitting the shelves at $3 a bottle as former jug-wine buyers traded up to 750-milliliter bottles.

A backlash of sorts was seen in many upscale restaurants that once prided themselves on their wide selection of "cult" wines from California. Many such wines no longer were in vogue, and many sommeliers and wine buyers said they were tired of the high alcohols they were seeing. Many of the "cult" cabernet sauvignons were delivering alcohol in the 15 percent range.

As a result, wine buyers for upscale restaurants in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and other major cities were looking more at Italian, French and Austrian wines.

To combat a growing sameness in their red wines, a number of U.S. wineries moved toward planting red wine grapes in cooler climates than in the past. This led to dramatic and distinctively different syrahs from California's Russian River Valley, Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey and Santa Barbara coast regions.

And finally, one of the most appealing trends of all continued to grow: Wineries worldwide increased their production of dry, full-of-character pink wines for the hottest days of summer. These dry rose wines were occasionally not cheap but showed the freshness of the grape better than any red wine could hope to do.

Wine of the Week: 2003 Cousino-Macul Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo, "Antiguas Reservas" ($15) -- Medium-full body and attractive dried herb and black cherry complexity. Improves with aeration in a decanter to show notes of plums and chocolate. Should age two to four years, or try now with grilled meat dishes.

Dan Berger resides in Sonoma County. Berger publishes a weekly newsletter on wine and can be reached at danberger@VintageExperiences.com.