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A master sommelier reveals 4 trends changing the wine industry

4 trends that the master somm says are about to blow up in a big way

29/09/2016

As summer fades to fall, rose's time in the sun is quickly fading. Fortunately, there are some fresh new wine trends on the horizon.
"Trends come and go and people's tastes change," Devon Broglie, a master sommelier who serves as the wine buyer at Whole Foods, told Business Insider. Broglie says that spotting trends is a mix of careful data collection and trusting his gut. With years of experience in the wine industry, he has learned how to spot completely fresh ideas that make sense for "intangible" reasons, and bet on these before they become big.

Broglie is one of just 230 people in the world that has attained the title of master sommelier, and he's the only master somm curating a grocery store's wine selection.

Here are four trends that the master somm says are about to blow up in a big way:

1. Canned wine

Canned wine sales have more than doubled in the past year, reaching $6.4 million in sales.

"It makes all the sense in the world," says Broglie. "Accessibility, affordability, recyclability, the convenience of single serving — all these things. With wine, we were noticing that people just want to be less stuffy about everything."

Broglie helped Whole Foods jump on the canned wine trend when it was in its infancy. The retailer began selling Presto sparkling wine (already a best-seller) in a can two years ago, and named canned wine as a trend to watch out for in 2016 late last year. "People are looking for more convenience, and they're not as caught up with the romance of popping the cork and all these things," says Broglie, who reports he picked up on the opportunity for canned wine to flourish based on wider trends instead of specific data points. "It's about taking a bigger picture view and [realizing], 'You know what? A can is going to work.'"

2. Chilled reds

As summer turns to fall, Broglie has the perfect replacement to sipping rosé on a boat: tailgating with a bottle of chilled red wine.

"This can play for August, September, October, as you still have warm weather, but you're moving into a cooler time," says Broglie.

Instead of super-alcoholic, full-bodied, fruity red wines, the best wines to serve slightly chilled are lighter and slightly more acidic. Beaujolais are a good go-to for people intrigued by the idea of a chilled red wine, according to Broglie.

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