Wine Trends By Decade

There have been many American wine trends over the years. It's not as though wine fashion was invented with that organic non-alcoholic natty orange wine you're drinking. 

The seminal event that kicked-started American wine was the 1976 Judgment of Paris. We'll start from there.

  

1980s

Wine Coolers, specifically Bartles & Jaymes, a sweet, low alcohol drink from Gallo's genius marketing program with Frank Bartles and Ed Jaymes on a front porch being all folksy. They became a social phenomenon, and as any marketing person will tell you, "There's no better publicity than free publicity." Basically, it's an early wine-based RTD (Ready-To-Drink) cocktail.

White Zinfandel, brought to you by Sutter Home. Created in the '70s, but sales took off in the '80s and by 1987 Sutter Home's White Zinfandel was the best-selling premium wine in the country. Lots of other wineries got into the white zin business during this time; an early take on a rosé wine.

Chardonnay became the varietal after the 1976 Judgment of Paris. When in a restaurant, instead of ordering a glass of white wine, you now asked specifically for a glass of Chardonnay. It was oaky and buttery.

Champagne/Sparkling Wines took off. The '80s was the decade of making money; remember yuppies and the movie Wall Street? What better way to show off than with Champagne. Imports of Champagne skyrocketed during the mid-80s. Sonoma County's Korbel sparkling wine producer had double-digit sales growth.

60 Minutes with Morley Safer

1990s

Merlot was the darling for a time after the 1991 French Paradox episode on 60 Minutes (everybody watched 60 Minutes in the '90s). The story claimed red wine was the secret ingredient keeping the French healthy, even with all of their smoking and butter sauces. Merlot is Cabernet Sauvignon's soft cousin, and sales shot up. 

Parkerization led to those big, powerful, higher alcohol wines, with Napa Cabernets being the poster child for this style. Robert Parker was a revered wine writer at the time, and he loved jammy wines, therefore many wine drinkers figured they should, too. 

Parker wasn't a fan of tannins
but he loved his points! 

2000s

Parkerization hit its peak. Oh, those big, bold 95 point wines that everybody wanted!

Merlot was already on its way down before the 2004 movie Sideways put the nail in the coffin. 

New World wines became a thing because consumers saw the quality for the price better than what California or France was charging. Wines from Chile, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, etc. hit the store shelves.

The ABC movement, or Anything But Chardonnay, was anti-oak and butter Chardonnays. People listened and showed interest in leaner styles, and in Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris as alternatives. 

 

2010s

Rosé went from cheap and sweet to a "real" wine and sales took off, and it was "rosé all day." Quality pink wines are now part of the portfolio at many wineries and are found on any restaurant wine list. It turns out that sparkling rosé is a great wine, too. 

RTDs, or Ready To Drink adult beverages became a thing. First, spirit-based cocktails then wine-based cocktails because wine has lower alcohol and calories. For the producer, wine is taxed at a lower rate than spirits. Winery owners consider wine-based RTDs as competition, and they are for now, but they are also introducing a new group of consumers to wine.

Health conscious consumers brought us sustainable, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines. These trends started earlier, but got to be normal in the 2010s. In the 1990s, I recall Mike Lee of Kenwood Vineyards telling us about converting estate vineyards to organic growing methods. He complained about the extra work, especially for the vineyard crews, but said, "We have to do it for the yuppies." 
Clean wines were a marketers dream for a short white until the folks in Washington told them to knock it off. Note that natural and clean have no legal definition in regard to wine, hence the controversy.