Move over Sauvignon - Viognier is the new black!

Or less verbosely put: Wines come in and out of fashion.

Unfortunately the title of this post has a large assumption as everyone from winemakers, to journalists, to humble retailers are all wondering what will be the next Sauvignon blanc, the next BIG thing. For those who haven't experienced the true horror of the 'Sauvalance' (Yes thats 1,738,000 cases from one winery alone) and are wondering what on earth I'm going on about, let me simply say that we are firmly clasped in the lime and gooseberry scented bosom of Sauvignon Blanc. We love it. We can't get enough of it. However, we are a fickle bunch and not so long ago we were cosying up to a 'Plainer Jane' whilst still decrying our previous love-affair as stuffy and cloying.

Having worked with wine for a number of years I'm always intrigued by the fashionistas of wine and those who set the trends. When I first started everyone loved Pinot Grigio, it was light, good value (kinder than saying cheap) and ultimately gluggable. The On-trade couldn't shift it fast enough and everyone from the Sharons in the pub asking for a "medium dry", to the little Italian grower was happy. (Un)fortunately the success of Pingo Gringo was only down to consumer reaction against Chardonnay, more specifically the oaky new world type, and when people realised quite how insipid most of the Pinot Grigio around was, they moved on.

Now poor Chardonnay is much maligned, as it is hardly the grape that is at fault, and thankfully this trend is righting itself with people slowly realising that what they don't want, is vastly overpowering new American oak - that toasty, vanilla bomb, which coats the mouth and dulls the senses. Nevertheless it was these exact flavours that enticed consumers in the first place. If you've been following my "suggested wine-style" advice then you'll know what it was that Chardonnay's success was built on. Vanilla, toffee, tropical fruit and a creamy mouthfeel, were flavours that people had never had before. All that the civilised world was drinking was sweet German wines; sticky and appley, Liebfraumilch was synonymous with easy drinking white. Whilst it is quite possibly the spawn of Satan, (along with every other cheap, anemic, sweet slop) it does have a lot to be thanked for: introducing millions to wine, making wine an affordable drink, creating a market and making the rest of the world realise that not only the French make wine.

"And before Liebfraumilch what were people drinking?" you may ask. Well, most likely those who could afford it were drinking the only wine that was cheap and quaffable - southern burgundy, more specifically those of Macon, Chalon and Montagny; as there was nowhere else in the world that produced wine of quality for export.

However, wine-trends aren't an overly a bad thing. Yes the market may be flooded at the moment with cheap bland kiwi Sauvignon, but that means one can buy a stunning quality German Riesling at a price far lower than the calibre of the wine demands.
An amusing aside to what the next "great white" will be, comes from the Australians, who, hoping that Albarino would take off, brought in and planted vast tracks of what they thought was Albarino from Spain. Fate is fickle and much to the horror of the poor Ozzy winemakers what they had actually planted turned out to be plain Traminer. The lowly cousin to Gewurztraminer and the lesser white grape of Jura.
As with any trend the problem here "The Band-Wagon". Someone hits the nail on the head and there's an increase in demand, but as supply goes up (with everyone clawing for a piece of the pie) quality inevitably drops as miserly consumers (and suppliers) try to find a better price for their tipple and end up drinking bathwater flavoured wine convinced that since its in vogue it must be good.

What is man, when you come to think upon him,
but a minutely set, ingenious machine for turning, with
infinite artfulness, the red wine of Shiraz into urine?
Isak Dinesen 'The Dreamers' 1934

Suggested wine-style to try this week: Well the only one left of course - southern white burgundy.