Predictions for 2008

Prognosticator of Prognosticators - Predictions for 2008

An oenomancer sifts the sediment for a flavour of things to come…

*Watch the exchange rate - prices may have to rise considerably in real terms for the first time in years.

*We will finally get bored with the cork/stelvin debate. With the confusing web of conflicting evidence and the buzzing hive of bees-in-bonnets we won’t know who to believe or what to think. As it should be.

*There will be no trendy grape variety of the year, but Chardonnay, in particular, white Burgundy, will re-emerge as a not-so-guilty pleasure.

*My outside tip on the red region/grape will be Beaujolais/Gamay. You heard it here first and last.

*There will be a mind-boggling number of silly new brands launched with facile packaging.

*A winery in California makes the first 100+ RP wine. It’s called Screaming Ripoff.

*Ever more estates will convert to organic and biodynamic viticulture.

*The press wake up to the fact that Italian wines can be amazing. No, that’s a dream not a prediction.

*No-one wakes up to the fact that Argentinean reds are largely a bunch of over-oaked, over-extracted fruit bombs.

*Spain will continue to promise more than it can deliver.

*Celebrity endorsements of brands will continue to increase.

*There will be another major Cloudy Bay marketing initiative because we all desperately need one.

*Supermarkets and high street chains will continue with their pricing prestidigitation. Forget the BOGOFS, 3 for 2s, and all the other promotional malarkey, just present honest prices with honest margins - if you dare.