Good Wine Trends

The previous entry here was about the not-so-good trends. Here are the better ones.

  Healthy/diet wines

Biodegradable flax fiber

Yeah, in the last blog entry I called this a bad trend. But as a counter to overly alcoholic sweet wines that are so prevalent, it's a good response. Just not sure if they're really any healthier.

  Better packaging

Wineries seem to be getting away from the extra-heavy glass bottles that are supposed to somehow mean it's a better wine. These bottles are more expensive (and you pay for that) and are more expensive to ship. Alternative packaging to glass is still not making much headway.
Screw caps are still slowly making gains as I see more red wines, not just the cheap stuff, showing up with these better closures.

  Better for the land and people farming

Sustainable and organic wine grape growing are more common. In some respects, sustainable is a better practice than organic, though the latter gets the press and is better understood. Read up on both, plus biodynamic, and decide for yourself.

   More attention to minorities

The wine business in ownership and winemaking is mostly a white guy's profession, but in recent years there has been more press for women, blacks, and Hispanics in these roles. Women-owned wineries are proud of themselves and use this as a marketing tool. If you like variety in your wines, then you might want to check out wines made by someone besides university-educated white males.

  White wines getting more attention

I mean besides Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, and Pinot Gris. There are great sparkling wines, there are thirst-quenching varietals like Albariño, Grüner Veltliner, and Vermentino.

  Pandemic changes

A couple of things that came out of the Pandemic that should stick around are more people buying and shipping wine direct from wineries. Also, the online video tastings, talks, and classes put on by wineries and others in the wine biz.