Published on July 5, 2023.
What to stock this summer?
Sustainability is top of everyone’s agenda. So, growing grapes and making wine in a way which has the minimal impact on the environment, as well as reintroducing biodiversity into the vineyard, is going to be at the top of everyone’s list this summer. When talking about sustainable wine-making, it is the entire process that is taken into consideration, from the producers to the consumers, it is all about making wine we can continue to enjoy and share for generations to come. There has been a concerted effort across the entire wine world to transition towards biodiversity and organic farming. This means no pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilisers, and an all-around effort to promote a variety of plant life in the vineyard.
No-longer pigeon-holed as a summer wine, consumers are going to be enjoying rose, both still and sparkling all year round. Rose is an extremely versatile wine category with lovely depth of flavour, red fruit character and good acidity. It can lend itself very well to pork, turkey, cheese, hearty soups, tempura prawns and spicy food. Perfect for those dishes that are too light for red wine and too heavy for white wine. Rose meets that wonderful middle ground.
Prosecco is still wildly popular, but we have started seeing an increase in demand for more sophisticated traditional method sparklers like crémant, Cava, and English Sparkling wine. With the category currently in growth, you can expect to see the sparkling section on wine lists expanding to meet this demand.
Portuguese wines are going from strength to strength, having seen excellent growth in both volume and value in 2022, becoming one of the most exciting and creative wine producing countries in Europe. For native grapes, diversity of styles, emerging regions, sustainability, high quality, reasonably priced wines, Portugal has the wines that you need on your wine list for the rest of 2023.
Both Port and Sherry have faced generational challenges over the past few decades, with long-term decline in their volume markets, and a decreased appetite by multinationals in pursuit of more enticing growth prospects elsewhere. Navigating these periods of change has been difficult, but both categories are rediscovering their identities that brought them their initial success, alongside a stream of innovations for the future, including white and rosé ports, Millennial-friendly port RTDs, and vineyards now producing as much unfortified table wine as they do Port. This growing audience is definitely one you should keep your eye on.
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About the author
Chloe Lewis
Chloe looks after all copywriting and proof-reading for Drink Warehouse UK, working with the Marketing team to deliver educational content to all our customers. She has spent many years in the hospitality sector, moving from behind the bar to now helping venues to stock their own. You can find more from Chloe about beer, cider, spirits, wine, non-alcoholic, soft drinks and RTDs all over our blogs, website, social media and Set The Bar magazine.
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