The wine world is turning

One hundred issues of WINELIFE, and perhaps as many contributors. Everyone who ever contributed, even if only to one of those editions, helped make our magazine a success. Looking back, these experts tell us what they have seen change in the wine world.
Text: Niels van Laatum | Image: Unsplash

The WINELIFE adventure began in 2009. A lot can change in seventeen years. How wine is made. How it is drunk. How the world as a whole has changed: the climate, the economy, information technology, the outlook on health. And what it all means for wine. Ask former employees about their experiences, and you will get as many opinions and stories. Some people share their personal experiences, others follow and explain wine trends and developments. Using all these insights - and our own, of course - we take you from then to now. 

Tastes and preferences

The average, modern wine lover likes lighter, fresher and more bubbly. More rosé, less robust reds or full and heavy whites. So too did Xavier Kat, owner of Wijnkoperij Ockhuysen on. ‘Following a time with mainly focus on mastering technical winemaking, the need for a purer expression of provenance is growing: terroir over cellar. As a result, the diversity of styles is increasing. Wines are becoming lighter, but not emptier, fresher, livelier. The influence of the cellar - think: extraction, yeasts, wood influence - is diminishing.’

‘In addition, lighter, chillable red wines and Provence-style rosé have become perennial favourites, as drinkability is important,’ adds Joris Snelten, managing director of Delta Wines, to. ‘The blockbuster category is smaller, but certainly not gone: there is still a large group of consumers who are just starting out and just love full-bodied red wines from Puglia or a southern Chardonnay with quite a bit of wood.’ 'Tastes differ. Fortunately.

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