Wine news in 2022 was both concerning and upbeat. Once again, scorching heat, record-breaking drought, spring frosts, hailstorms and wildfires reminded vintners of the dire threat and cost of climate change, which will cause more eco-anxiety in 2023.
On the positive side, vintners and drinkers are taking sustainability ever more seriously, and more innovations and adaptations are coming.
The first Future Drinks Expo in San Francisco in May was a look at the technology for wine’s future. Robots? They’re in the vineyard already, picking grapes, weeding and pruning, and will soon be working to ferment tiny batches of grapes in the cellar.
Yet there’s financial anxiety on the part of producers. Supply chain problems and an increase in transportation costs took a toll last year. And inflation means we’ll be hunting for values and bargains. Even as prices rise, remember: Ultrapremium wines can be a relatively affordable indulgence, compared with other luxury goods.
Here’s what else I see in my crystal glass for 2023.
Mindful Drinking Will Expand
One of the fastest-growing segments of the wine industry is the new wellness category, and “mindful drinking” is its mantra. Brands with a “better for you, your community and the Earth” mentality are booming. Younger drinkers especially want to imbibe less, and when they do, they look for “healthier” organic wines with less alcohol. A recent 10-country study by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis found that sales of no- and low-alcohol beverages in 2022 surpassed $11 billion, up from $8 billion in 2018. That’s still niche, but IWSR predicts no- and low-alcohol consumption will increase by a third by 2026. Among the new brands on US shelves in 2023 will be no-alcohol sparkling wines from Danish mindful-drinking company Ish Spirits.
In a win for consumers, mandatory nutritional labeling on all wines sold in the European Union goes into effect in December 2023, and the US Department of the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau announced it’s considering a similar move.
Wines Will Come in Flat Bottles and Pouches
Rethinking the glass bottle has become a top priority for forward-thinking wineries committed to reducing carbon emissions. The manufacturing and transportation of a wine bottle accounts for as much as 68% of the whole product’s carbon footprint. In 2022, LVMH’s Château Galoupet in Provence introduced easy-drinking Nomade rosé in a flat cannister made of recycled plastic that’s 10 times lighter than a normal bottle. California’s Tablas Creek Vineyard put its entry-level wines in the 3-liter bag-in-a-box format, whose carbon footprint is 84% less than four standard glass bottles. (The bag portion, though, is still not recyclable in most places.)
But so far the 1.5-liter wine pouch, the bag without a box around it, offers the biggest carbon footprint reduction over glass bottles—90%—and it’s starting to gain traction in Europe. A top-tasting example: 2020 Chat Fou Côtes du Rhône from trailblazing winemaker Éric Texier.
We’ll Taste Wines Grown in Space
In late 2019, European space research company Space Cargo Unlimited and its WISE (Vitus Vinum in Spatium Experientia) mission sent 320 merlot and cabernet sauvignon vine cuttings (and bottles of Château Pétrus) to the International Space Station for a yearlong sojourn. The aim was to discover if the stress of microgravity and cosmic radiation could make vines more resilient. When they returned to Earth in 2021, some of the cuttings were planted in the Bordeaux region of France. In 2022 researchers compared their development with control vines that had stayed on Earth.
So far the space vines are more resistant to high temperatures and diseases and need less water—essential climate change adaptations. But how will the wines taste? We’ll find out this year when researchers harvest the first grape crop and create trial wines
Sicilian Wine Will Soar
Remember how the 2004 film Sideways inspired pinot noir passion? The new influencers are characters on TV shows about the uber-privileged who put wine in the spotlight. A pretentious natural-wine tasting symbolized the cluelessness of the we-love-to-hate-them Roy family in Succession, and in Billions brash hedge funders knocked back classics such as Château Haut-Brion. The just-ended second season of Mike White’s HBO smash hit, The White Lotus, was all about Sicily, with scenic tastings at Planeta’s Sciaranuova winery on Mount Etna. It put the region’s volcanic vini—and the rest of Sicily’s wines—on everyone’s radar.
The island has been undergoing a wine renaissance for the past decade, in fact. Quality is getting better and better. Etna’s unique reds and whites are already noted by the wine cognoscenti for their deep, earthy minerality. But few drinkers realize how diverse Sicily’s wines are. The top names are available at shops, but more are on their way. One wine to try? The succulent, lemon-and-herbs white Planeta Etna Bianco made from the native grape carricante.
Precise Swiss Wines Will Arrive
Alpine wines are having a moment, but bottles from tiny Switzerland have been missing from the action—until now. This year on shelves, you’ll see many more of the best reds and whites from the country’s 200-odd native grapes, thanks to the promotional efforts of boutique importers and star Swiss vintners in the younger generation. A stunning white, the 2018 Donatsch Completer, made my top 10 list last year. Expect whites with vibrancy and mineral overtones and fresh, juicy, tangy pinot noirs. Swiss vino is not cheap, but it’s well worth the price.
Naturally I still have plenty of questions about what we’ll be drinking a year from now. Will gut-friendly, slightly fizzy Mexican tepache (pineapple brew) catch up with hard kombucha? Is Japanese shochu the next big drink? Can sparkling mead impress Champagne lovers? And will cats and dogs really lap up pet wines such as catnip-flavored Meow & Chandon and Dog Pawrignon? Fur-geddaboudit!
