【1】Small size wine bottles are in fashion.
It is sometimes difficult for consumers to drink 750 ml of wine in one go after opening the bottle. Wine that is not consumed may oxidise.
In recent years, many well-known brands have launched small bottle sizes, for example: Changyu (China), Yellow Tail (Australia), Torre Oria Petit Chaperon Rouge (Spain), Tesco Finest (USA), Le Grand Verre (France).
In the US market, according to Nielsen, in 2020, small format wines priced at $16 or more accounted for 37% of sales of wines in this segment, up 27% from the previous year.
Among small-format wines, wine in cans made great strides in 2021, and this will continue in 2022. The global market for wine in cans is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.2% from 2021 to 2028, reaching $571.8 million by 2028.
-North America made the largest contribution to the global market, accounting for a revenue share of over 53% in 2020.
-Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market from 2021 to 2028, driven mainly by countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and India (source: Grand View Research).
【2】The world's wine will take the reduction of glass packaging weight seriously.
The production of a 75 cl glass bottle of wine emits approximately 1.1 kg of CO2 equivalent, i.e. approximately 29% of the "carbon footprint" (source: PE International for Wine Institute of California). By way of comparison, according to Vitisphère, the production of the cork emits between 0.002 and 0.037 kg of CO2 equivalent, i.e. only 1.4% of the "carbon footprint".
However, there are many bottles of still wine with a dry weight of almost one kilo, which pushes this share of the packaging in the production of wine's carbon footprint to almost 50%.
We understand that the weight of this packaging is at the heart of the controversy.
Leading figures in the wine industry, such as Jancis Robinson MW and Tim Atkin MW, have long campaigned against heavy wine bottles.
More pragmatically, we are seeing tensions in the global supply chain, in terms of rising raw material costs, fuel costs and transport costs: the growing difficulty is that retailers do not want to add these costs to consumers.
All these facts will force producers to balance their cost price, reducing the weight of the glass being a solution to maintain the quality of the wine.
【3】The rise of E-commerce for wine sales.
Over the years, people have become increasingly comfortable with buying all kinds of drinks digitally. And the pandemic has made buying wine online more widespread and convenient.
According to IWSR research in December 2021, alcohol E-commerce in key global markets has continued to grow with new business models during the pandemic. In fact, global alcohol E-commerce is expected to grow by 66% to $42 billion between 2020-2025.
What does this mean for producers? That the impact of digital communication should not be underestimated.
【4】Orange Wine will become more and more popular.
First seen in Georgia 8000 years ago, orange wine has recently become a hot topic in the wine world. White grape variety vinified like red wine - this fashionable wine is appreciated in Europe and all over the world (USA, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Asia and Asia Pacific).
More and more specialised and even general press, such as Revue Du Vin De France, Forbes, Le Point, explain and recommend orange wines. Forbes, for example, has highlighted orange wine as one of the biggest emerging consumer trends in 2021.
Some professionals even say that ORANGE wine is a new category of still wine (after RED - WHITE - PINK).
In PWS polls, 66% of participants think orange wine will be the trend：https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6873539889816858624
【5】More and more producers will decide to change their wines from AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) to VDF (Vin de France).
In Bordeaux, Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Maison Blanche, Pétrus, and more and more winemakers are questioning the classification and the AOC system. This is also true in the Languedoc (example of IGP and VDF), and in more and more French wine regions. As the director and technical director of Cheval Blanc, Pierre Lurton and Pierre-Olivier Clouet, put it: "The evaluation grid moves too far away from what seems fundamental to us: the terroir, the wine, the history. Other secondary elements have taken on too much importance in the final score.
For decades, the system of appellations has helped customers choose profile and quality. But today, more and more producers are opting for VDF over AOC.
M. Despagne, owner of Maison Blanche gave us an example: "Today, I am taking a new step by offering you Maison-Blanche 2020 directly as a Vin de France", he thinks that "For the AOC, the word 'origin' is the heart of the idea: to make wines that express their origin. However, this is no longer the case."
In 2022, let's see if this trend continues, or if the AOC specifications review their criteria.