betting millions that its new soda will lure young consumers who have made Pepsi's Mountain Dew one of the hottest-selling soft drinks in America.

Surge, the new citrus beverage announced on Monday, is a gamble, but worth a shot in a market where other citrus drinks have fizzled, analysts say.

"Coke is turning its guns on Pepsi,'' said Tom Pirko of the New York-based Bevmark consulting firm. "It's looking for any conceivable weakness in Pepsi right now because Pepsi is going through a transition.'' Surge is made up of several citrus flavours and has an energy-boosting carbohydrate called maltodextrin. Each 12-ounce can has slightly more caffeine -- 52 milligrams -- and calories -- 170 -- than Mountain Dew, with 45 milligrams of caffeine and 140 calories per can.

Mountain Dew, fueled by a marketing campaign showing teen-agers ski-boarding, skating and rock-climbing, had sales of $3 billion last year, vastly outselling Coca-Cola's similar Mello Yello.

*** Ecco Domani is the brand name of new Italian wines created and imported by E & J Gallo Winery -- the first foreign wine for the giant California company that makes everything from coolers to $50 collectors' items.

You won't find the Gallo name anywhere on the bottles, though, nor even Modesto, Gallo's headquarters. That's all right, because the wines are typically Italian, not the product of some American focus group.