by Rob Dobson, CWE
Happy New Year! It’s once again time to look back at what happened over the past year and prognosticate as to what might happen in the world of wine in 2010.
In 2009 I saw fewer flawed wines thanks to an increase in the use of screw caps and other alternate closures. Heavy glass bottles began to be replaced by more lightweight packaging. In addition to lighter glass bottles, consumers could now choose from wine in boxes, tetra packs, cans or light aluminum bottles. Organic grape growing and winemaking continued to expand as consumers began to search out wines made this way (personally, I’m not convinced that organic wines are any better). We saw a global economic crisis that seemed to hurt most businesses, including the wine industry. While prices didn’t exactly plummet, many wineries repositioned some brands at lower price points as purchasers’ disposable income dwindled.
We saw the SLGA first put their product inventory on-line and then streamline the special ordering process. But possibly the most important event of 2009 for wine drinkers was the opening of two specialty wine stores in Saskatoon and Regina. Our available wine choices grew exponentially. Wine clubs and wine societies continued to offer tastings and educational opportunities to growing memberships. It was a great year to be a wine consumer in Saskatchewan.
I asked my fellow Savour Life wine columnists Steve and Tracy Hurlburt for their perspective on 2009 and predictions for 2010 and Tracy offered the following observations:
Two wine trends which come to mind for me for 2009:
1) The emergence of Malbec wine as a pure varietal on the shelves for consumers to purchase (and not just as a blending grape listed somewhere on the wine's label), particularly several Argentinean Malbecs;
2) More and more Regina restaurants/bistros started offering expanded wine lists with more wines available by the glass, both reds and whites. Also, they seemingly took the effort to list them by name and sometimes vintage instead of just offering them generically as "House Red" and "House White".
My prediction for 2010: seeing the emergence of "Calorie Reduced" wines in response to the increasing obesity epidemic which is sweeping North America. Kind of along the same lines as a few years back, many food products were manufactured with the "Regular" version as well as a new "Lite" one. Will this be an effective marketing tool? No one really knows - maybe it will be as effective at weight loss as all of the "Lite" food items turned out to be.
Looking ahead, the first thing I’ve noticed is the makeover Savour Life has just received. Have some fun checking out the new features and let us know what you think. Wine wise, I concur with Tracy that many consumers are starting to look for wines with lower alcohol levels; if not for the reduced calories, then for the ability to consume a couple of glasses without worrying about being able to drive home.
I also predict that drinkers will expand their horizons in 2010. With the bigger selection available to us, we can continue to explore more regions and new grape varieties. Argentina is on a roll and is stealing market share from Chile and Australia. Malbec, Bonarda and Torrontes are grape varieties that Argentina is introducing to wine drinkers who want to try something new without breaking the bank. Even though the economy seems to be recovering, I’d look for wine buyers to be more frugal this year. We’ve demanded better value for our wine dollars and many producers are responding. I think we’ll see more wines that, as one friend puts it, “will punch above their weight class”. I also think that many uber-expensive cult wines and overpriced Bordeaux and Burgundies will gather dust on the shelves (even with 2009 shaping up to be yet another “vintage of the century”). This will be the year that wine consumers tell the wine producers what we want rather than having a bunch of marketing experts create fads that we’re expected to chase.
That’s about it. I’m looking forward to what 2010 will bring. I’m ready with glass in hand, so bring it on!
Most Memorable Wine of 2009: Maybe not the best wine I tried, but certainly one of the most interesting: 2004 Terre Nere “Guardiola”. This red is produced high up on Mount Etna on the island of Sicily, in possibly the highest vineyards in Europe. It’s produced mainly from a grape variety called Nerello Mascalese. It looks and smells like a fine Pinot Noir, but the flavours and structure were reminiscent of a good Barolo. This was a real eye-opener for me and it was fun discovering this wine (just when you think you know everything….).
Most Memorable Winery Visit of 2009: This was another eye-opener. I visited a winery on Vancouver Island that makes wine from apples, or should I say a “cidery” that makes apple cider? This small, family run operation is called Sea Cider (www.seacider.ca) and they are applying the care and high standards of a top artisanal winery to making cider. The ciders were delicious and I was surprised how each variety of apple they used produced a distinctly different beverage. The ciders are not only treated like wine, they’re packaged in wine bottles, not the beer bottles or plastic pop bottles that most of us associate with mass-produced B.C. ciders. I’m not sure that we’ll ever see any of these ciders here, but if you’re visiting Vancouver Island pay them a visit and try some of these excellent organic apple wines. This Cider House rules!