Wine trends for 2017: Loire and sparkling reds?

Wine merchant Bibendum has made some big calls on the next 12 months for wine in UK bars and restaurants. Do you agree?

Bibendum’s 2017 wine trends in brief:

Sparkling red wine
Loire red and whites
White Bordeaux
Sauvignon Blanc from Swartland

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Next year is going to be a good one in UK bars and restaurants for both whites and light red wines of the Loire, according to Bibendum’s analysts.

Classic white wines of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé are hardly new, of course, but watch out for lesser-known regions hitting the mainstream, such as Touraine, Anjou, Saumur and Vouvray.

Light red wines from the Loire will also continue to catch the eye, Bibendum said.

Bibendum is one of the biggest wine suppliers to bars and restaurants across the UK, and is owned by Conviviality Retail, which also supplies wine to supermarkets.

Well-known varietal wines such as Merlot, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc still dominate wine sales in the UK. But Bibendum has used its wine report to highlight emerging, niche areas of the market.

Do you agree with what Bibendum is predicting? Let us know in the comments section below…

Bibendum also thinks that white wine from ‘red regions’ is going to become a thing in 2017.

Decanter’s Jane Anson has written broadly about Bordeaux dry whites and Bibendum said that this will be a trend to watch next year.

Spanish wine’s popularity should also lead to more white Rioja on wine lists, it said, in what it conceded is a ‘bold claim’. Several Rioja companies have chosen to invest in Rueda DO to produce white wines from Verdejo grapes.

Some of Bibendum’s more off-the-wall predictions for the UK next year include the emergence of sparkling red wines on restaurant wine lists.

Prosecco sales in bars and restaurants might have grown by an estimated 40% in 2016, but it is being sold more cheaply than before. That has pushed bar owners to seek out alternative sparkling wines, Bibendum said.

Other predictions include the emergence of South Africa’s Swartland, and particularly Sauvignon Blanc wines from this area, Bibendum said.

There was no mention of Brexit, which the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has warned is likely to force up wine prices next year.

Bibendum said that there was a trend towards higher spending on wine in restaurants and bars, but it was unclear whether that was more due to outlets raising prices or consumers willing to pay more.