Opinion / Portugal, pink prosecco and wine seltzers from Gordon Ramsay in 2021 – 8 ways wine will change, including robot waiters ferrying Veuve Clicquot and Dom Perignon champagne

Jan 4 , 2021

The rosé revolution is expected to keep rolling in 2021, but what else is on the cards in the world of wine? Photo: Fortnum & Mason

Vivant, by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Baum, will stream live wine experiences; Virtual With Us offers corporate tastings and wine sales sites like Pix.wine continue to get bigger and better

When it comes to wine in 2021 – where to start? Covid-19 upended all our oenophile habits, shifting how we buy wine (online more than ever), how we taste and learn about it (virtually), and where we end up drinking it (not at parties, bars or restaurants).

Thankfully, many cities considered wine shops to be essential businesses. Vino has been a great connector this year, as we’ve shared glasses with friends virtually and travelled by proxy to regions we couldn’t visit.

Surprisingly, the pandemic didn’t shift what we put in our glasses all that much. Rosé is still hot. So is hard seltzer, which, along with canned cocktails (both, ugh!), grew 43 per cent during 2020. Bubbly is still going strong, with more countries than ever producing great examples (read: Brazil).

Raising a toast – to the end of a difficult year perhaps? Photo: Getty

The earliest harvest ever in Burgundy and devastating fires in California wine country for the fourth year in a row reminded people that climate change is a truly serious issue, and inspired new wine initiatives to save the planet.

Expect many of 2020’s trends to evolve in 2021 – the health and wellness alcohol-free drinks boom, the canned and boxed wine movement, vino from extreme regions – helped along by new digital and AI innovations, even if everyone really dreams of returning to sharing wine with others outside their homes.

Here’s what else to look out for:

Pink prosecco is the new new thing

Chateau d‘Esclans Whispering Angel Rosé. Photo: @thewhisperingangel/Instagram

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