We Asked 12 Sommeliers: What’s One Trend in Wine You Wish Would Catch On?

Words: Ashlie Hughes & illustration: Gerry Selian | November 11, 2020, VinePair

llustration: Gerry Selian
illustration: Gerry Selian

Some drinking fads come and go, while others, such as rosé and the once-obscure but now ubiquitous orange wine, are here to stay. With the uncertainty that 2020 has unleashed on the beverage industry, accurately predicting the next wine craze is a daunting task.

To discover which trends could soon be in vogue, VinePair polled industry pros to find the wines and industry practices that they hope will soon gain traction. From an innovative American wine region to grape varieties and winemaking styles that deserve more attention, here are 12 trends that might be coming to a wine store or restaurant nearby.

Wine Trends Sommeliers Wish Would Catch On

  • Marsalas
  • Piquettes
  • Screw caps
  • Champagne
  • Trusting your instincts
  • Grosses Gewächs Dry Rieslings
  • Coffee shop wine bars
  • Selfie-less wine
  • North American hybrid grapes
  • Labels with technical data
  • Transparency
  • Rieslings

Keep reading for details about all the recommended trends to watch!

“I like seeing the youngsters drinking their red wines chilled — cold, even. I am [also] happy to see red sparklings gaining a little shelf and cooler space. The thing I have been pushing for the last two years is great Marsala as an indulgence, or a luxury item, instead of a common kitchen ingredient. Marsala belongs in a glass, not on a plate.” —Jeremy Allen, Beverage Director, Little Dom’s & MiniBar Hollywood, Los Angeles

“The making of Piquette. It’s a light, easy-drinking, low-ABV, slightly fizzy wine product made from the grape pomace macerated in water, and traditionally something served to vineyard workers during harvest.” —Damien del Rio, Owner, Sauced, Brooklyn

“I would like [to see] more screw caps and less cork. The sustainability of [the] screw cap is the way to go!” —Lenya Wilson, Level 2 WSET Sommelier, The Glenmark, Glendale, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Glendale, Calif.

“Drinking Champagne and sparkling wine for no reason at all.” —Rob Wecker, Master Sommelier and Owner, Bushel and a Peck Kitchen & Bar, Clarksville, Md.

“I wish people would learn to trust people — and their own palates — more than numbers or scores. Trust your instincts about what you like, rather than drinking what someone else thinks you should be drinking. … If you’re really interested in learning about all of the different wines and flavours that are out there, try to pick up at least one new bottle every time you shop for wine. Talk to the people who work at your wine store of choice, whether that’s the grocery store or your local wine shop. Tell them what you usually drink, and ask them to suggest something similar, but different, so you can try something new.” —Shawn Paul, Wine Operations Director, Foxcroft Wine Co., Charlotte, N.C. and Greenville, S.C.

“If there was one trend I wish would catch on, it’s using Grosses Gewächs (great growths) dry Rieslings on wine lists. These are super complex, pair with a range of foods, and, in my opinion, are better pairing wines than white Burgundies.” —Patrick Reno, Beverage Director, Luthun, NYC

“I noticed some new stores combining coffee shops and wine bars. I think those are perfect matches for mornings [that] then roll into a wine bar in the p.m. Both beverages [can be] enjoyed in that setting, doing some work or hanging with friends over some small plates. I think that setup makes wine bars more profitable and helps people learn, with the ability for service teams to talk to their guests. —Luke Kennedy, General Manager, Proper 21K, Washington, D.C.

“Drinking wine without posting a picture of the bottle. If three people drink a bottle of Clos Rougeard together, but no one posts a picture on Instagram, does it still count?” —Jordon Sipperley, Wine Director, Tidbits by Dialogue, Santa Monica, Calif.

“We are seeing a new generation of winemakers in New England experimenting with North American hybrid grapes (such as Frontenac Noir, Marquette, Brianna) — as [opposed] to the vitis vinifera grapes that we all know and love. Female winemaker Deirdre Heekin of La Garagista is a pioneering example of this.” —Kylie Monagan, Partner/Wine Director, Civetta Hospitality (Amali, Calissa, Bar Marseille), NYC and Water Mill, N.Y.

“More technical data detailed on the label. [I] love it when wineries provide information regarding the composition, oak regimen, vineyards, and name of winemaker, grape growers and/or cellar master.” —Scott Lester, Wine Director, Fellow, Los Angeles

“Transparency! By which I mean, simply, putting the ingredients of your wine on the label. It’s such a strange thing that the FDA requires nutritional labels for all packaged food, yet someone can make wine, manipulate it with all sorts of additives and chemicals, and call it Cabernet Sauvignon without listing what they actually put into it. A few wineries in Oregon have started listing their ingredients on the label as a movement to show that they only used organic grapes, for example, or perhaps they had to dilute with water, so the water becomes an ingredient. This is a movement about awareness. I think it is a long road to get people on track to really care, but if the wine industry were required to label all ingredients, that might change.” —Austin Bridges, Wine Director, Nostrana, Portland, Ore.

“I wish more people would be open to trying Rieslings. Many sommeliers and wine experts appreciate the qualities of a Riesling because it is such a unique and versatile wine that pairs with virtually any kind of food. … Rieslings offer a fresh new bouquet of flavour to the palate and are really quite, unlike any other wines. If you are ‘anti-sweetness,’ which is often associated with so many German Rieslings, stick with dry Rieslings from many New World countries or from Alsace. You will still get the flavour profile but much less sweetness — although sometimes the sweetness really helps when cooling down spicy foods.” —Piero Procida, Food & Beverage Director, The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Calif.

The Perfect Wine Pairing for Every Classic BBQ Dish

Betty Gold Updated June 29, 2020 | RealSimple

To get the scoop on the best way to bring your barbecue fare to life with wine
To get the scoop on the best way to bring your barbecue fare to life with wine

Picking wines that complement all of the tangy, salty, and sweet flavours of our favourite grilled foods can be a challenge. So many different types of palates to please! But before you throw in the towel and settle for a case of Bud Light and a few bottles of pinot grigio, we’re here to eliminate all of that intimidation. Seriously, you’ll be pairing burgers with Beaujolais like a sommelier just in time for the Fourth.

To get the scoop on the best way to bring your barbecue fare to life with wine, we consulted the experts at Vivino, the world’s largest online wine marketplace. Their vino pros helped us round up these recommendations for the top varietals for every type of grill fare. Whether you’re cooking pulled pork or tofu, we have something here that’ll sizzle harmoniously.

Hamburgers + Beaujolais

How to make the perfect burger. The Gentleman's Journal
How to make the perfect burger. The Gentleman’s Journal

Burgers are summer grilling staples, so it’s only fitting that they pair with the number one summer barbecue wine: Beaujolais. Light, fresh, and fun, Beaujolais is extremely food-friendly. Expect peppy red cherry and strawberry flavors with a touch of earthy undertones.

Hot Dogs + Rosé

Pedernales Cellars Viognier and Rosé are perfect with hot dogs
Pedernales Cellars Viognier and Rosé are perfect with hot dogs

The toppings make the hot dog, so the key is to find a wine versatile enough to pair with anything you can eat on a dog. It’s hard to go wrong with a dry rosé, but look for one with some character to it: minerality, acidity, or unique, savoury flavours.

Grilled Corn + Chardonnay

Sweet, salty, buttery grilled corn needs a wine that will accent—but not overwhelm—its flavours, which is why Chardonnay aged in steel or old oak is a natural match. Most unoaked Chardonnays still go through malolactic fermentation, which creates a creamy, buttery texture without oaky flavours of vanilla and baking spice (that would overwhelm the corn).

Grilled Seafood + Sicilian White

Rinazzu Etna Rosso Selezione Speciale
Rinazzu Etna Rosso Selezione Speciale

Embrace the essence of grilled seafood with a salty, zesty Sicilian white. Sicilian white wines, particularly those grown on the slopes of Mount Etna, have distinct volcanic minerality, lemon acidity, and a touch of salinity, which makes for an ocean-reminiscent flavour.

Grilled Tofu + Champagne

Vegetarians need barbecue options too, and creatively prepared tofu can be an excellent substitute for otherwise meat-heavy festivities. The bubbles in Champagne provide a nice contrast to the texture of tofu, while tart citrus flavours and focused acidity make it perfect for pairing with almost any flavour profile.

Pork Chops + Pinot Noir

Wine Pairings With Pork by Cut and Cuisine. LoveToKnow
Best Wine Pairings With Pork by Cut and Cuisine. LoveToKnow

Pork chops pair well with both red and white wine, but with a dry rub on the grill, red wine has the edge. Medium-bodied Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon has a little bit of everything that pork chops call for, flavour-wise, melding lush New World cherry cola-esque fruit with Old World earthiness.

North Carolina-Style Pulled Pork + Riesling

For a wine to stand up to North Carolina-style pulled pork’s vinegar-based sauce, two things are crucial: sugar and acid. Off-dry Riesling is the answer, with mouthwatering acidity and just a touch of residual sugar to keep the wine from seeming too austere.

Memphis-Style Pulled Pork + Zinfandel

Slightly sweeter than the North Carolina-style, smoky, spiced Memphis-style pulled pork calls for a wine with juicy, round fruit, like a classic California Zinfandel. While Zinfandel can be overly jammy and high-alcohol, the best examples balance body with acidity, allowing fresh red and blackberry fruit to burst onto the palate and complement the pork.

Ribs + Syrah

The full bodied intensity of Shiraz pairs well with fatty grilled meats like pork ribs, beef short rib, and sausages of all kinds. Joie de Vivre
The full-bodied intensity of Shiraz pairs well with fatty grilled meats like pork ribs, beef short rib, and sausages of all kinds. Joie de Vivre

For a knock-out baby back rib pairing, embrace the flavours that make ribs so good with a wine that carries them. Full of smoke, meat, and black peppery goodness, Syrah from the northern Rhône is right on the money—as if someone took the smoked ribs themselves and put them into the wine.

Steak + Cabernet Sauvignon

Matching steak and Napa Cab is a no-brainer, but to take the pairing to a new level, look up the mountain. Vineyards situated within the mountain ranges that form the Napa Valley—such as Spring Mountain District or Chiles Valley—have the added benefit of elevation, creating a more restrained and elegant style of wine.

History in the bubbles

History in the bubbles: 105 and still loving her bubbly| Joelle Thomson – 16/12/19

(This item is something of a prelude to our proposed June tasting. It relates to Dawn Ibbotson who is the matriarch of the Ibbotson family who operates Saint Clair)

NB. It was with some sadness that I noted that Dawn passed away on 10 Jan after I had copied this item. Still, 105 is a great knock and enjoying a nice wine right up to the end can’t have been bad. Rest in Peace Dawn.
NB. It was with some sadness that I noted that Dawn passed away on 10 Jan after I had copied this item. Still, 105 is a great knock and enjoying a nice wine right up to the end can’t have been bad. Rest in Peace Dawn.

This month marks the 105th birthday of the woman who inspired one of New Zealand’s best bubblies made using the French traditional method, the same way that champagne is created.

The woman and the wine are called Dawn. The first vintage of Dawn was made from the 2012 vintage to mark its namesake’s 100th birthday in December 2014. Now, Dawn Ibbotson has turned 105 and her family says she enjoys a daily glass of the bubbly they made in her honour.

It’s a top bubbly in taste too, as our instore experts pick it as one of their favourites, year-round.

The wine is made from hand-harvested, whole bunch pressed grapes, which were fermented in a combination of stainless steel (the Chardonnay) and seasoned French oak barriques (the Pinot Noir). The two still wine components were then blended and bottle-fermented for three months to allow the carbon dioxide from the second fermentation to dissolve into the wine, creating its fine bubbles. It was then left on tirage (lees) for thirty-nine months until disgorgement.

Story of the name Saint Clair…bubb

The Ibbotson family who founded Saint Clair Winery named it after the original landowners of their Marlborough vineyards, the Sinclair family. Saint Clair is also the name of a suburb in Dunedin, hometown to the Ibbotson’s and to Dawn.

Dawn is made from…

Vines are grown on stone and sandy alluvial soils on Rapaura Road, Marlborough; overlooked by Saint Clair Vineyard Kitchen. It contains 6 grams of residual sugar per litre; off-dry, but only just, in other words. This wine tastes dry from the first sip to the last, lingering sparkling drop.

It’s Official: French Fries Pair Best with Champagne

Moët & Chandon calls the salty, crunchy snack one of the best things to eat with bubbly, and our wine editor agrees.

Mike Pomranz | April 19, 2018

Everyone likes Champagne—if only because it’s the quintessential, upmarket celebratory drink. But for that exact reason, some people can be unsure when to drink Champagne. Weddings, graduations and holidays are obvious choices. And if you’re Biggie Smalls, when you’re thirsty also qualifies. But is ordering Champagne during an otherwise ordinary meal posh or just pretentious?

For bigtime Champagne producers like Moët & Chandon, this question is about more than just image: moving more Champagne boosts their bottom line. So clearly, it behooves the brand to remind drinkers that you don’t need to wait until your golden anniversary to pop a bottle of Brut. Along those lines, Marie-Christine Osselin, Moët & Chandon’s wine quality and communication manager, recently told The Drinks Business that one of the best possible pairings for bubbly is one of the most common sides on the planet: French fries.

According to Osselin, Champagne’s acidity and bubbles make for an excellent complement to fries saltiness and crunch. In fact, regardless of whether the cuisine is low-brow or high-brow, Osselin insisted that simplicity is the key. “Champagne is a wine that asks for simple ingredients, no more than three,” she was quoted as saying.

Of course, it’s easy to be skeptical: If you were trying to move $50 bottles of wine, you’d probably say they pair well with every food under the sun. But Food & Wine wine editor/guru Ray Isle actually completely agrees with Osselin’s assertion. “I’ve been saying this for years, as have many, many sommeliers,” he explained.

“Basically, salt and fat plus high acid and bubbles equals a great combo,” Isle continued, giving Champagne and French fries the mathematical treatment. “Fries, potato chips—hell—fried pork rinds would work too. But I don’t think you’re going to get the folks at Moët to suggest pairing their champagne with fried pork rinds—that’s too down-home for them, for sure.”

Moët won’t say it, but apparently we will. Grab your Champagne and pork rinds! Is it college football season yet?!