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News
England and China noted in rules of wine
The Daily Telegraph has produced what it calls “a guide to the latest developments on Planet Grape.”
The article, entitled “The new rules of wine“, lists a number of emerging trends in the wine industry, insisting the “first new rule of wine is that there shouldn’t be any rules”.
Highlighted in the list are the growing influences of China and England in the growth of the industry.
Predicting the development of English wine, it was noted: “By the end of this century, on expert projections, southern England will have the ideal climate for wine making, and the overheated vineyards of France will be producing the kind of delinquent plonk currently served up in pizza bars.”
Back in January of this year db surveyed the UK’s wine landscape and ran through some likely scenarios for 2012.
We analysed some of the most frequently recurring areas of recent speculation and canvassed opinion from across the industry.
The Telegraph article tallied with several of the potential trends noted by db, notably the rise of China, the evolution of English sparkling wine and the growth of low alcohol wines as a category.
Other ideas looked at packaging innovation – though not along sustainable lines – and the rise of wine fraud, a growing issue.
More contentious perhaps is the article’s statement that the “terroir myth means nothing” and that viticulturalists regard it “not only as bunkum, but as a cover-up for bad winemaking.”
So too that “wine buffs” are unable to admit that the key grape varieties in the world, “are, essentially, the same thing. All are descendants of a single species, vitis vinifera, which was domesticated in Asia Minor in ancient times, and slowly spun off into the varieties we know today.”
Here are db‘s top 10 wine trends for 2012.
1. Sustainability will drive packaging innovation
2. English sparkling wine reaches a tipping point
4. The Far East moves in on Burgundy
5. The Old World wins back ground
6. The natural wine movement runs out of steam
7. Steady volume declines in the on-trade
8. Reduced alcohol wines will win more shelf space.
9. Polarisation within the UK off-trade
10.Chardonnay shakes off the ABC crowd