Wine Trends for 2020

WHAT IS interesting is that the average age of a wine drinker has reduced by quite a few years globally. And this is what is shaping many of the trends in the industry. With the millennials and the centennials joining the group of wine connoisseurs, we are seeing many interesting trends that were beyond one’s imagination and comprehension earlier.

As an owner of a handcrafted label, one of the things we have consciously observed is how young drinkers select their wines. In their quest to know more, understand more about the wine they are drinking, youngsters prefer labels which clearly list down the grape varieties, the vintage, the terroir, ideal storage temperature and sometimes even what they are best paired with. This wasn’t so common in traditional old-world wines. Now though, even the old-world winemakers are trying to marry new world practicalities of sharing as much information about the wine, its origin and so on to widen that circle of wine drinkers and make wine less intimidating.

The other thing which we noticed is how people nowadays want to control how much they drink and would rather have small quantities of more varietals than finish an entire bottle in one sitting. This gave rise to the wine dispensers. Although only available in select star properties and restaurants in India, you can see people wanting to pour their own glass of wine and try as many varietals to figure out what appeals to them the most and possibly settle with that for the evening.

The new age drinkers don’t always want to make a fuss by sitting down to a silver service meal to enjoy a glass of wine. This led to wine producers revolutionizing the mindset of doing away with producing fancy glass wine bottles to making some of their wines available in tetra packs. Something that can be easily carried, enjoyed outdoors on a nice day, the tetra pack for a beverage like wine was unthinkable even a decade ago!

When it comes to enjoying the wine, in India we have been seeing many experiments with pairing regional food with various wine varietals. This wave of having fun with wines pairing your traditional favorite dishes I feel is going to be here to stay and grow. In the coming months and years, I am sure we will see more and more restaurants launch menu where Indian food is paired with wines from across the globe.

Something else we have been seeing is the demand for sustainably-grown grapes and small handcrafted batches of wine. Even if every batch is a different experience, knowing that the grapes used to produce your bottle of wine has been grown sustainably, has seen a lot of takers in the last few years.

These unlike trends seen before I feel are much more than fads and each one of them will contribute to changing the way the industry functions appear and shape things in the years to come.