| From the clothes we wear to the music we listen to and the wines we drink, trends play a big role. A quick look back at the 1980s reminds us that trends can go terribly wrong, in both music and fashion. But what about wine?
At one point in time, Riesling was considered all the rage and garnered higher prices than any Bordeaux or Burgundy – and shiraz wasn’t even on the radar screen. We’ve gone through times when white and pink wine outsold red two to one and there was a day, not too long ago, when any respectable wine aficionado would not have been caught dead drinking red wine with fish or white with meat. But today, all that has changed.
Red is back in charge and you can’t give Riesling away at any price. People have thrown out all the rules for wine and food pairing and are simply drinking whatever they want with their meals. Wines are often selected because of a pretty label or because some far-off journalist assigned a number to it in a magazine.
Even the French are now finding themselves falling behind and countries like Australia are setting the tone for new wine trends. Technology and chemistry are the new monarchies of Winedom and they are taking it to places it has never been and perhaps should never have gone.
Like it or not, there’s little doubt that the world of wine will continue to morph at breakneck speed. And as more wine drinkers are born in North America, we will see new trends develop. Here is a quick look at the best and worst of what’s to come in 2006, as I see it.
WORST WINE TRENDS OF 2006
· Wine in a can – Wine in a box slipped by us and there is little we can do about it now. But wine in a can? Hey, I’m all for getting some booze in your belly without standing on ceremony, but this may be one step too far.
· And then there were two – The vast majority of Australian wine production is now controlled by only two companies. If this trend continues, we will soon be buying Australian wine by colour-coded label, cross-referenced by creature. Example: I’ll take four bottles of the green label panda wine and six of the purple kangaroo. Crikey!
· Reverse engineering of wine – This simply has to go. Even if you haven’t heard of this technique, you have probably tasted the results. Here is a brief overview of how it works. First, the public is polled for flavours that they enjoy in wine. Next, the cheapest and most flavourless wine possible is concocted. After that, the flavours are added back to the tasteless beverage in an artificial form, such as liquid oak, essence of pineapple and other yummy additives. Finally, a large bag of sugar is added to mask the flaws and, voila! – you have something resembling wine that tastes like a chemistry experiment gone wrong. But with a large enough marketing budget you’re sure to sell it all.
· Riesling and sherry get the shaft – Although the wine press continues to tell us that Riesling is on the rise, it isn’t. People still associate it with the crap sweet wines of the ’70s and refuse to give it its proper due next to the great whites of the world. Shame. Sherry is in a similar boat. While a 30-year-old bottle of tawny port fetches more than $100, you can still grab a 30-year-old bottle of sherry for under $25. I don’t get it.
BEST WINE TRENDS OF 2006
· Putting the screw to corks – The onslaught of screw caps will only increase over time and I say, good riddance to cork. Especially for inexpensive everyday wines, there is simply no reason to put them under a seal that spoils as much as 10 per cent of the juice. Good cork should be saved for long-term wines and the cork industry should pull its head out of its ass and work on a solution.
· Pinot envy – Yes, the movie business can have a strange effect on what people drink, but I think the popularity of Pinot thanks to the Oscar-nominated film Sideways is a positive change. People are beating down the doors for good Pinot Noir and it’s about time – this grape has managed to fly under the radar for long enough and, besides, Merlot and Cabernet’s 15 minutes have been up for awhile.
· Earth, wine and fire – The emergence of biodynamics from the cults to the mainstream has meant more farmers are considering the health of the Earth. Healthier vineyards equal healthier wines, which can only make for healthier people, and I’m all for that. So if you want to stuff a cow horn full of shit, bury it in the ground, then dig it up under a full moon and spray your fields with the contents while chanting under the stars – hey, that’s cool.
· Cold chillin’ – Albertans seem to be embracing the wine cellar. With more cellars than ever appearing in our basements, wines will finally have a place to go where they can chill out and reach their full potential.
· Beaujolais for the people – As people forget Beaujolais nouveau and move on to the quality wines of the region, they’re discovering the rich diversity and amazing value this unique region can offer.
· Canucks drinking better – More and more Canadians are discovering the virtues of wine. And it seems most of us are willing to shell out a few extra bucks for something good. This trend can only lead to a stronger and happier nation and more good times in 2006. |
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