I stumbled across "Peering Into the Crystal Glass: Wine Trends to Expect in 2016" on WineSpectator.com today and was curious to hear their thoughts going into the new year. One prediction was on the topic of natural wines. The article says:
The trend for "natural" wines will decline. Popular in wine
bars and restaurants in cities like New York, London and Paris, wines made without
sulfur or any kind of intervention are rarely found outside the big cities that
offer importers, distributors and a market to support them. As "natural" wines
improve and consumers become more educated, they will recognize the difference
between well-made, sound wines and flawed wines, realizing that regardless of
origin and methods, there are only two types of wine - good and bad.
I thought this was interesting in the context of a blog post and conversation we started to have around "natural" and "organic" wines. At the end of the day, maybe it is just about if the wine is good or bad, and not about how the wine was produced and processed.
For food, there has been scientific evidence that the pesticides and processes used in some food and food making can have a negative effect on one's health. Of course, there is still debate on just how negative the effect is, how much better organic food is for the consumer, etc.
Is there any evidence suggesting negative health effects from consuming sulfites? Or any negative effects from "intervention" in the wine making process? Perhaps the move toward "natural" wines will only stay topical when there exists scientific support of the benefit. That might make this trend towards "natural" sustainable, rather than just a temporary fad that is predicted to fade.
Kaitlyn -
ReplyDeleteInteresting question of whether "organic" wines will infiltrate our drinking habits like kale and quinoa have our salads, or whether they will be a passing trend. I did some searches for research on either side of the sulfite debate - links below. The UC Davis link seems to represent the common belief on the subject which is that there is no conclusive evidence that sulfites cause headaches, and any negative effects they do have are in a very small (1%) percentage of the population. There also seem to be a number of implementation issues with "sulfite-free" wine, including shorter shelf life (There isn't actually such a thing as "sulfite-free", but rather no added sulfites). Unless there is a high value and willingness to pay placed on sulfite-free wine by the consumer, these cost and production inefficiencies will push "organic" wines out of the market. My prediction is that the consumers won't demand nor pay for this trend.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/wine-headache-chances-are-its-not-the-sulfites-1426250886
http://waterhouse.ucdavis.edu/whats-in-wine/sulfites-in-wine