Climate change is heating up
Climate change is affecting so much: The fear of it has encouraged winemakers to adopt better eco-vino vineyard practices and to experiment with new grape varieties. Rising temperatures are also drastically rejiggering wine geography. The steady warming of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, for example, may turn the area into a new source of top pinot noir. Until recently, farmers had little luck growing the grape. Now there are 33 wineries, and more are on the way.
Even the state of Maine is hosting a class this month for farmers who want to grow wine grapes. Is Newfoundland next?
You’ll be buying more wine online
Despite its convenience and range of choices, online wine shopping in the U.S. lags way behind China. Expect a boost in 2018. The primary barriers to growth have been the high cost of shipping and the U.S.’s complicated alcohol regulations. Consumers in 44 states can have wine from any U.S. wineries delivered directly to their doors, but only those in about 14 states can have wine purchases shipped directly from out-of-state retailers, which means they can’t buy a lot of imported wines.
Enter Heini Zachariassen, founder and chief executive officer of wine app Vivino. In December he launched Vivino Premium, which aims to be the Amazon Prime for wine. A $47 annual membership fee gives you free shipping for an amazing selection of wines, even first growths, all shipped legally because Vivino partners with a network of local wine shops. (A one-month free trial is available.)
JD.com, China’s second biggest e-commerce company, plans to capture luxury online wine shoppers there with ultra-premium delivery service. Couriers wearing suits and white gloves were already delivering watches and jewelry; the expansion to wine started last month.
The fizz sector will keep broadening
Bubbly is still bursting old boundaries (as I predicted last year), and prosecco is still grabbing buzz (because of a poor harvest, prices will go up). Look for France’s well-priced crémants from Alsace, Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire, and the Jura to make a splash this year.
The latest luxury sparkler is new upscale Spanish Cava. Major Champagne houses are pushing more single-vineyard bottles and fabulous extra-aged fizz (looking at you, Cristal Vinotheque). And please, let’s have more neighborhood Champagne bars in 2018.
The “luxury experience” way to taste wine
The crowded winery tasting room is now totally passé. The new way to sample vino is all about special experiences and settings—say, while staying at a posh Bordeaux chateau or right after picking grapes in Burgundy, or after spear-fishing in New Zealand. I’ll be excited to visit the just-opened giant glass Cube in an Australian vineyard billed as an Alternate Realities Museum.
Naturally, Napa is all-in on the idea. A handful of swanky reservation-please salons with comfy leather sofas, chandeliers, art-to-buy on the walls, and playlists of oh-so-hip music opened in downtown Napa last year. Top spots so far? Brown Estate, Acumen, Blackbird, and Ackerman’s Aviary.
The rise of robots in the poshest vineyards
When the Rothschild family of Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Clerc Milon invests in bespoke robots that are programed to remove weeds from vineyards, you know the idea is about to hit a tipping point.