Future Of Wine

How China, Climate Change and Technology Will Transform The Industry.

- Bernice Chan

Wine expert Robert Joseph points to a future where blends suited to mass consumer tastes replace vintages, glass closures replace cork and screw cap, robots pick grapes, and wine shops offer experiences like modern bookstores.

British wine expert Robert Joseph complains that the wine industry is changing at the speed of a snail. The author of several books, founder of the International Wine Challenge and producer asked aloud this week why winemakers and merchants won’t move with the times.

He was giving a talk at Vinexpo Hong Kong, a major trade fair, called “The Future of Wine Has Changed”.

With technology, climate change and consumer habits fast evolving, wine cannot be made, packaged, marketed and sold the way it is now, he says. For an hour and a half, Joseph outlined foreseeable trends that could disrupt the wine industry, and which he believes should be embraced now.

China wine market: millennial drinkers are buying online and moving away from established brands, Vinexpo hears. 

Joseph sees a big disconnect between the technical aspects of wine that a rarefied group feels qualified to grade, and the reality that the vast majority of drinkers don’t care about appellation and fermentation, and just want to drink wines they think taste good.

British wine expert Robert Joseph says the industry should embrace change. 

The problem starts with wine bottles looking pretty much the same, whether they cost US$10 or US$100; the failure to educate the consumer about the differences is the fault of wine producers, he says.

His forecasts can be broken down into four main areas. 

1. Climate change