The effects of the recession couldn't be all bad. While a large number feel the heat, some businesses may actually grow. One of the happier stories is that of cheaper wine. With people cutting down on spending, cheaper wines are quickly leaving supermarket shelves. Wines in the $30-and-under category are thriving, with particular consumer interest in the $10 to $15 range, according to Stacey Jacob, executive director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance, California. The wines that will suffer according to the same source are the ones in the categories of $50-100.

Ever thought of taking a tube of wine as a hostess gift to a dinner party as opposed to an elegant bottle? The thought may be indigestible to some, but Californian based 'Four wine' thinks they've hit on something big in replacing the wine bottle with 28.5 cm tall and 13 cm diameter cardboard tubes. They claim that this is not only a more pocket and environmentally friendly option, but the wine lasts longer in the cardboard tube that it would in a bottle once opened. They are in the process of talking to US airlines to sell these 'bottles' on board and have already begun retailing in stores around the United States.

Here's a question : Does wine get better with age? If you've answered, 'Of course stupid!', here's some news for you. Wineries in China have started scientific trials using electric fields to speed up the process of ageing wine. All it takes is one sharp burst of electricity into cheap wine to transform it into the good stuff and not even the most experienced winetaster will be able to tell. It's called 'plug-in' ageing, details of which can be found in the New Scientist magazine, developed by a chemist at the South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, Xin An Zeng. If proven a success this could well be China's age to bask in the warmth of profits that will rain down as their wine sales take off.

Compiled by Shivani Dogra