Wine is a living, breathing, evolving, and varied creation. The contemporary wine market mirrors the nature of its product. So, what was notable in wine this past year and what to expect in the coming year?
Wine, like any other commercial product, is subject to an interplay between the producer and the consumer. While producers generally want to produce something they can be proud of, they also want to be able to sell it. And consumers (again, generally) are concerned about the quality of what they drink.
Lately, the sales part of this interaction has taken the form of marketing folks scrambling to appeal to Millennials, while trying to hold on to Baby Boomers (strangely, they seldom talk about appealing to other generations). They worry Millennials are buying less wine than Baby Boomers, and less premium (meaning less expensive) wine. They also claim Millennials prefer sweeter drinks; hence, the regrettable prospect of more fruit flavored concoctions.
Market research suggests Millennials are as interested in a wine’s story as its taste. Some worry this will lead to producers emphasizing marketing over quality, like that’s never happened. Why can’t we have both?
One particularly encouraging development is these market researchers claim Millennials are interested in diversity, in experiencing new wines. I find this encouraging because I have promoted such diversity ever since I started writing about wine. So, look for more grape varieties and different wine growing regions. Just a few examples: bonarda from Argentina, carmenere from Chile, crljenak kaštelanski (AKA zinfandel) from Croatia, cariñena from Spain, numerous indigenous varieties from Italy, and lesser-known regions of southwest France and Loire Valley. By the way, I am particularly interested in the improving quality of Cabernet Franc wines from Colorado. I think it could become a signature in Colorado wine.
Speaking of new wines, one of the most exciting recent developments is British bubbly. That’s right, fine wine from England. I had a chance recently to meet and taste with the CEO of Ridgeview, a premier producer in Sussex where the geology is similar to that of Champagne. This was reflected in the quality of the wines. I definitely will be on the lookout for more.
And as we have seen from the explosion in popularity of Italy’s Prosecco, the sparkling wine market continues to reflect amazing diversity. Champagne still is the benchmark and its sales continue to grow along with the whole sparkling wine category. Even with Prosecco’s popularity, another more affordable bubbly – Spain’s Cava – is still popular and has the competitive advantage of being produced in the traditional Champagne Method.
Expect continued growth in “natural wine”. In the wine geek world, this actually has generated volumes of controversy and debate. As a noncombatant, this largely confounds me. We all (I think) are familiar with terms like organic, sustainable, and biodynamic. These are all agricultural and consumptive practices I have supported long before I became interested in wine. And they have advanced over at least the last fifty years to the point where significant numbers of wineries all over the planet practice them. The bottom line is: as long as the quality of taste in the bottle remains high, consumers will benefit from these developments.
Rosé, as I have written recently, has finally reached star status with consumers. I now sense a similar phenomenon as that with Merlot in the 1990s: an afterthought wine gains wild popularity; producers rush in to meet demand; quality suffers; consumers become disillusioned and start to abandon the wine. So far, that last part hasn’t happened with Rosé. I hope producers realize the danger and maintain quality.There are fine Rosés available from just about every wine region. My advice: demand quality; it is out there at reasonable prices; and maybe this time producers will respond to the right market signals.
Finally, in the category of “is it a fad, a trend or a keeper”: Bourbon barrel-aged wines are becoming more common. I guess if beer can be aged in wine and whiskey barrels … I’m interested but not convinced. I look forward to sampling these wines and you should look for a column from me soon.