Kristi Mayfield, CMS1 / WSET2 / Wine / Education
It’s a new year so what wine trend do I need to follow?
I’m an unapologetic “passion-ista” of wine. I have a few (according to my husband, probably a few too many!) other obsessions as well, but since this blog is about wine, I’ll spare you the details. Does my passion always translate to being the best wine trend spotter? Wine trend follower? Or wine trend promoter? Nope, not always. But my eternal curiosity and lust for educating myself on all things wine does inspire me to at least take a peek behind the wine trend curtain!
Before we try to predict wine trends for 2022, let’s look at a few trends from the past few years and see how successful those with crystal balls were in transforming the way we purchase, drink and obsess over the unctuous liquid imbibement! I’ll start by stating I am neither promoting or criticizing any of these trends, just creating awareness so you can decide for yourself whether you wish to jump on the bandwagon or not.
Previous wine trends we’ll explore over the next few posts include orange wine, alternate fruit wines, pétillant natural (pet-nat) wines, global wine trends, online wine sales growth, alternate packaging, non-West Coast wine region growth. I’m getting excited just thinking about it!!!
Not every wine trend is a good thing.
It’s important to recognize not all wine trends were positive for the U.S. wine industry, nor were all global wine trends, positive. In fact some were so devastating they caused wineries to close, harvests to be destroyed and livelihoods to be lost.
- Heat (not intended to open a fiery debate on global warming!) – extremely hot summer temperatures across many wine areas in the U.S. caused farmers and winemakers to lose countless nights of sleep. I personally witnessed 110+ degree F temperatures in the Willamette Valley this past summer and can attest to the challenges it caused in nearly every vineyard! Blistered grape bunches, early ripening, higher sugar = higher alcohol, stressed vines.
- Fires – sadly the trend of extreme fires across many significant wine regions, primarily in the western U.S. continued the past year and resulted in lost vineyards burned to the ground, smoke taint from extended exposure to intense smoke, rushed harvests and even complete loss of wineries and livelihoods.
Mother Nature be damned!!!
While we cannot change the course of Mother Nature or prevent force majeure destruction from rearing it’s ugly head, we can support our local wineries in many ways – I promise you’ll thank me for this! Visit a local winery for a tasting, buy a few bottles or join their wine club. Many do not have marketing budgets or distribution and count on visitors for the sale of their wines. Explore new wine regions across the U.S.. Not all great wine comes from California! Winemakers across the continent are upping the game and putting CA on notice. Make it a point to seek out wines from Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Missouri or any number of states the next time you’re stocking your stash. “Buy American” means more than where your jeans, boots or electronics are made, but be sure to spread the wealth and support the broader U.S. wine industry!
One final wine trend I’m betting on is learning. Learning something new or taking a class has never been easier. Want to quench your thirst (pun fully intended!) for wine education? DOMSOM’s courses are relevant, timely, transportable (mobile, tablet, laptop compatible) and take the fear out of wine! Join us today at the link below! That’s a trend you can bet I’ll be supporting!
www.domsom.us #domsom.us #gettingourdomsom
