Several stories dominated the 2010 wine news wire. The themes ranged from economic struggle and contraction to the emancipation of grape distribution. 2010 also marked the tipping point of wine blogging and wineries began to embrace new technology and social marketing strategies. The Wine Blogger’s Conference came of age in Walla Walla and the Hosemaster of Wine went into retirement. James Suckling left Wine Spectator to pursue an online site and the original wine blogger, Robert Parker began tweeting.

What news stories will dominate the 2011 landscape? Will the economy continue to impact the wine industry? Will the grapes finally be free to travel to any state they choose, or will the shackles of HR5034 keep them trapped at the borders?

Below are my predictions for 2011. Vote at the end of the article for your top news story of 2011.

1. HR5034 goes down in defeat and the American Wine Consumer Coalition rallies to push for the freedom of wine shipment across the US.
2. The wine economy continues to contract with several large wine conglomerates selling or closing poor performing brands. Small wineries struggle with building dept and close their doors.
3. Social media goes mainstream as wineries large and small hire social media gurus as part of their marketing teams.
4. The Hosemaster of Wine misses the glow of the spotlight and returns to his post of average satire and pre-pubescent roasting.
5. Wine bloggers who started to “crush it” in fall of 2009 will begin to drop off the radar as the romance of their passion starts to become hard work to keep it going.
6. WBC11 in Charlottesville, VA causes an international incident as wine bloggers get lost at Monticello and discover some ancient US artifacts.
7. @bparkerchuk identity is revealed causing a disruption in the twittersphere for 3 days.

What are your predictions? Vote and share in the comments.