What a decade this has been for wine—both good and bad.
The 2010s saw the rise of serious global concern (at last!) about the effect of climate change on wine. That will continue big time, especially with 2019’s scorching heat waves in France and catastrophic fires in Sonoma, Calif., and South Australia.
The rosé juggernaut of the past decade continues, as luxury players move in to Provence. LVMH acquired two rosé producers last year, including a majority share of Château d’Esclans, maker of ubiquitous Whispering Angel. Chanel, owner of three Bordeaux châteaux, snapped up Domaine de l’Ile.
Natural wine captured the zeitgeist of the decade, which ended with trade wars slamming wine in the form of U.S. tariffs on French, German, and Spanish reds and whites, with the uncertainty of more to come in 2020. Brexit is still a problem, and wine caves, once a major tourism attraction in Napa, Calif., turned into political footballs. (Tip for cave owners: Don’t turn on the chandelier.)
Hard seltzer also captured hearts, minds, and tongues this past year, with sales surging 210% in the U.S. To my dismay, they’re poised to triple by 2023, according to the drinks market analysts at IWSR. Why not make wine spritzers?
On the plus side, fizz continues to effervesce, even though the French are drinking much less Champagne. To supply ever-increasing global demand (and at lower prices), Brazil, California, New Zealand, Oregon, and Tasmania are producing better sparklers than ever.
At least, unlike the roaring ’20s of a century ago, 2020 won’t begin with Prohibition.
Here’s what else I see in my crystal glass for 2020:
Global warming will ramp up wine experiments everywhere
You’ll see the bottled results of dozens of experiments, and more will be started. Sparkling wine from Nova Scotia? Definitely. Historic and new hybrid grapes that can cope with heat better? Spain’s Torres winery is on it; ditto Bordeaux, Champagne, and Napa. Fresher, brighter whites from high-altitude vineyards? Look to Chile and Argentina, including even the cold extremities of Patagonia.