WINE in AMERICA

FROM THE VINEYARD TO THE DINNER TABLE, EMBRACING THE PUTURE OF FINE WINE

America is the world’s leading market for wine, thanks to an unprecedented  ve-decade boom that transformed wine from a cottage industry to a cultural phenomenon here. So what do the next  ve decades hold? Challenges loom, but if wine embraces its strengths, the future offers even brighter days. 

Starting in the Vineyards

Wine starts in the vineyards. And that’s where its fu-ture will begin, too. A bottle of wine, whether vinified by a mom-andpop winery making just 1,500 cases a year or by a global corporation turning out tens of thousands of cases, starts with bunches of grapes growing on a vine.

Somehow in the past decade, the wine community has allowed that idea to fade. Consumers today say they want products that are natural and artisanal. Wine perfectly fits that definition, but is somehow losing market share to fermented malt beverages with added fruit flavors and carbonation. But wine doesn’t need to pander to younger consumers or abandon its loyal fans. All it needs to do is embrace its strengths and remember what makes it unique unto itself.

"WE HAVE OVER 5,000 VARIETIES OF [WINE GRAPES]. AND YET WE DO SO MUCH WITH JUST A FEW OF THEM."

Talk to any winemaker about the future and they will tell you that climate change is the biggest concern they have. Fifty years ago, vintners were focused on new ideas for maximizing ripeness: planting vines on southfacing slopes, trellising the canes for maximum sunlight, thinning leaves and dropping bunches to fully ripen the remaining fruit.