These are the wine trends of 2024

The world races on and on, another year has almost passed. What are the wine trends that we will also notice in the coming year? Wine professionals Niels van Laatum, Kirsten Abels, Johan van der Velde, Esmee Langereis and many more winefluencers lift a tip of the wine veil.
Text: Petri Houweling

STILL MORE WOMEN IN WINE

More and more women are working in wine. It used to be different. Because the wine world was rather a man's world, the election Wine Woman of the Year was created. Now, we have reached the 5th edition and women have increasingly claimed their place in the professional wine world. Even your favourite wine magazine is largely written by women. Those who qualify for the title are not the least of them (see also page 13). But in 2023, Kirsten Abels is the winner. She keeps herself busy running Domain Holset, a Dutch domain from the municipality of the same name that only makes sparkling wine. 

We ask her what it means to be wine woman of the year. Kirsten: 'Obviously it's a huge personal boost for me, but also for the company. Especially when the professional jury and the public are unanimously enthusiastic about how I do my work. It gives me even more energy to do everything I already love to do even better. To make everyone around me even more enthusiastic about the beautiful wines we make'. Kirsten's wines will also be a much-loved product in 2024, as sparkling wine from the Netherlands is wildly popular.

VITICULTURE ON THE NORTH SEA

Not just sparkling, all Dutch wine is booming. There are now about 165 commercial vineyards in the Netherlands. Together, these have more than 275 hectares of vines planted. Still peanuts when compared to our eastern neighbours: in Germany, that totals some 100,000 hectares. So the Netherlands is a growing wine country. We speak briefly to Johan van de Velde of de Kleine Schorre, who runs a professional wine farm in Zeeland with his partner Paula van de Vijver. Johan: 'Dutch wine is getting better and better, it can't be otherwise with all the extra sun and warmth we get. Moreover, there are more and more companies here that are shifting from ennobling hobbyism to professional winemaking. We at de Kleine Schorre make what we are good at and what suits our regional products, i.e. anything that can be fished out of the sea. Our focus is on the fresh whites of pinots, auxerrois and rivaner. We do have some pinot noir planted, but it will be some time before we can make a Zeeland Burgundy style here. We do work with relatively new varieties such as souvignier gris and cabernet blanc. Of these, we were able to harvest a first sample this year.'

QUALITY WINE FROM THE COOL NORTH

Of course, the fact that Dutch wine is getting better and better has everything to do with climate developments. Positive for us, but winemakers in 

southern regions are hugely affected by global warming. These are turning to all kinds of new techniques to cope with heat and drought. In Provence, for example, they only work in the fields in the evening after 20:00 to keep the moisture in the soil intact as much as possible. In Bordeaux, heat-resistant varieties from Portugal and Spain are now allowed within the AOP. And in Germany, they are increasingly working with varieties that previously flourished in France and Italy. Merlot, cabernet sauvignon and primitivo are planted here in so-called Versuchsanbau vineyards. In England's Kent and Sussex, the finest sparklings produced. Pinots and chardonnay have been maturing there without any problems in recent years.

Further reading? You will find more information in WINELIFE Magazine, issue 86. You can order this one here. 

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