Wine Innovation Magazine

By Joseph Morris, CulinaryArtsCollege.org

Joseph Morris is an avid food and wine enthusiast. He also owns the site Culinary Arts College for students interested in getting a degree in culinary arts. In today’s post he shares with Wine Spiral Project Wine Trends for 2012.

In an unsteady market, Americans are still gaining interest in wine. Just last year, the U.S. surpassed France as the world’s largest consumer of wine by volume. The wine market has been experiencing some difficulties since the recession hit, but this past year it has started to bounce back.

1. Local Wines – The movement to reduce one’s carbon footprint and consume locally-grown products has extended to the wine industry in the past few years, and is expected to gain popularity this year. This doesn’t just mean American wines from California and Oregon, but a variety of regions including Michigan, Texas, and Virginia. Local wines were even profiled in a recent article in USA Today.

2. Lower Alcohol Content – So-called “New World” wines with overripe grapes and high alcohol contents are losing their popularity in favor of classic, elegant wines with alcohol levels below 13 or 14%. This reserved style marks a return to tradition of flavorful, balanced wines.

3. Burgundy is the New Bordeaux – As prices for Bordeaux wines continue to rise, more and more consumers are choosing wines from Burgundy instead. According to this article from Bloomberg, Burgundy has become the star of wine auctions from New York to Hong Kong.

4. Sustainable Wines – With everyone “going green,” these days, sustainable wines are gaining more recognition. Winemakers are keener than ever to try natural wine-making techniques. In fact, New Zealand is set on becoming the first country with a fully sustainable wine industry by next year, with many of the country’s big winemakers already producing organic wines. Expect this trend to continue growing in the coming years.

5. Value – Although we seem to be out of the worst of the recession, consumers are still looking for wines of good value. However, they don’t want “cheap” wines, but rather mid-priced wines that will offer a great value for their price. Wines from regions such as South America, Australia, and Spain can offer such value without the high price tag of some of the more famous regions. Spain in particular produces many wines that mix familiar French grapes like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon with Spanish varieties.

Seen in: www.smallbiztrendcast.com