It’s traditional to look back at the end of the year and assess what’s been. However, it’s much more fun, and profitable, to take what you’ve seen and look forward with an attempt to anticipate what’s to come and what trends will emerge. Since we are all about fun and profit, we choose the latter.

Below is a list of the trends we believe deserve watching. Some listed below we see as being solidified in the coming year. Others we think might emerge as important trends that wine marketers and publicists will benefit from keeping a very close eye on. They are listed in no particular order

1. “Natural Wine” Is Solidified As A Bonafide “Category” in the Wine World
Despite our skepticism that “natural wine” has any meaning whatsoever, we have seen this moniker applied to wines by very reputable publications and many wine professionals. It has been embraced enough that it will be solidified as a category to be watched. However, that also means that the term “natural wine” will be used by marketers who will take advantage of the fact that the term means nothing. Think “Reserve.”

2. Continuing Backlash Against the Wine Industry in Well Developed Wine Regions
Napa and Sonoma in particular will continue to see very vocal minorities demanding that the wine industry be penalized or burdened with new regulations in order to address problems this minority believes is caused by the wine industry. Traffic problems, new wine developments where vineyards have previously not been tended and winery-based marketing events will all continue to be assailed by the vocal minority. That said, there is every reason to believe the industry and the majority in these regions who support it will push back against calls to punish and curtail wine production and marketing.

3. Distributor Consolidation
Consolidation almost always breeds additional consolidation as those not involved in the consolidation seek to keep pace. In 2014 we saw huge, multi-state distributors become even bigger via consolidation. There remain a few large distributors that are ripe for the picking and in need of merging to keep up with the behemoths. We expect more consolidation in the wholesale tier in the coming year.

4. The Emergence of Younger Wine Writers
We believe 2016 will be an important year in the emergence of a new, younger crop of wine writers. As the older, experienced crew begins to think about retirement, the new crew will be selected from successful bloggers and young writers who have been toiling at second tier wine publications and websites. In other words, we expect to see promotions to the big leagues of younger wine writers.

5. Increase in Use of Media (not Social) Relations in the Wine Industry
We have seen a distinct increase in wineries and wine companies inquiring about help reaching the media with their brand message. This increase in interest in traditional media relations might be due to numerous developments. We see it as a response to the continued increase in brand choices and a need to sing louder and more clearly among a growing chorus of voices seeking an audience.

6. Opportunity in Diversity
Americans are more promiscuous in their drinking, whether migrating to different types of wines from the traditional varietals or migrating across categories to try new beers, ciders and spirits instead of sticking with their tried and true wines. Expect to see more wineries experimenting in different categories whether it’s distilling or cider-making or more.

7. More Groups and More Categories To Choose From
You’ve got varietal groups (ZAP), style groups (IPOB), regional groupings from new AVAs to their promoters. Expect even more groups to emerge in all these categories primarily as means for collective marketing efforts. It’s getting tougher and tougher out there to get share of mind and group marketing is an effective and affordable way to spread the word.

8. More Virtual Wineries as Cost of Entry Continues to Increase
You can expect to see more “virtual wineries” (no winery, no vineyards, no ‘bricks and mortar’ tasting rooms) emerge as the cost of entry into the California and Oregon and Washington wine industries continue to increase in cost and regulatory hurdles. Born only as brands, these “virtual wineries” will be run by (or should be run) by good marketers since, well, that’s primarily what their business is all about. Additionally, such brands can be created to appeal directly to specific groups, demographics and cohorts since there is no obligation to spend much of any time speaking about place and heritage.

9.  The Call For Expertise
The bubble in which wine consumers, trade, and media shout their thoughts is getting more crowded and louder and that cacophonous buzz is becoming deafening. We expect many consumers to more actively seek out vetted expertise in their pursuit of wine advice, recommendations and education. This is in contrast to the rise of the Everyman Wine Critic and the Crowd as the source of knowledge in our digital world. And CellarTracker and Delectable aren’t going anywhere. We realize this. But we see something else also. The continued success of Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Advocate, World of Fine Wine and other sources of vetted wine information along with the rise of the Somm and repeated calls to “find a local wine shop” is evidence that consumers are looking for real expertise to help guide them.

10. Purposeful Authenticity Will Be More Important Than Ever
Next year is a presidential election year and this means that despair and cynicism will reach its four-year high. The constant barrage of “talking points,” scandals, meanness and more will have people looking for content with real purpose and true authenticity as those they are willing to give time to. Those wine companies that can provide their community or constituents with real, heart to heart, meaningful, authentic content will capture hearts, minds and possibly wallets.

Have you spotted any trends the wine industry needs to be aware of going into 2016? Please leave them in the comments section of this post below. We want to hear what you see.

There seems to be a moment now where journalism is front and center in a number of new films. Here’s a recap of what’s out there: we would recommend you go to see them. Doing so will certainly increase your awareness of what the media deal with….as well as giving you fodder for conversations with journalists. What deep, dark secrets might a wine writer uncover? One never knows!

Truth is based on television news producer Mary Mapes’ memoir Truth and Duty: The Press, the President and the Privilege of Power. The film focuses on the 60 Minutes report questioning President George W. Bush’s military service, which ended in Dan Rather’s resignation. Robert Redford plays Dan Rather.

Spotlight focuses on how The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team investigated the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church in Massachusetts and won a Pulitzer Prize for their work. The cast includes Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber and Billy Crudup.

The Program hasn’t arrived in the U.S. yet: based on David Walsh’s book Seven Deadly Zins, it tells the back story of a journalist’s attempt to expose Lance Armstrong’s doping.

Snowden, based on the book The Snowden Files, directed by Oliver Stone, re-creates the leaking of classified documents. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Nicolas Cage and Tom Wilkinson.

Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, brings a book about mobster Whitey Buger to life.

The producer of Truth recently explained that “one of the things that makes journalism stories a genre filmmakers go back to is they contain a lot of the qualities of great storytelling. You have people with very ambitious goals who often have to climb mountains to achieve them. That’s the stuff of real drama.”

You may or may not have “the stuff of real drama” waiting in your vineyard or in your production area between the barrels and the stainless steel tanks, but by staying current on how popular culture paints the picture of journalism today, you’ll be ahead of the game.

There are wine books and then there are WINE BOOKS, with the thought in extra-large font and spotlit.

Two comprehensive wine books have been updated and are being released this fall: Jancis Robinson’s Oxford Companion to Wine and Karen MacNeil’s The Wine Bible. If you spend your days marketing wines, these are books which should be within reach. You may have earlier editions….but you really might consider springing for these revised versions.

Take a sec away from your to-do list to think about the enormous effort which goes into writing extremely comprehensive books such as these. What is required?

• A superb palate
• Great organizational skills
• A serious memory
• A sense of humor and not-taking-yourself-too-seriously
• Creativity
• A love of language in all its nuances
• Familiarity with a number of foreign languages
• A good copy editor/spell checker nearby, whether human or virtual
• Patience.

That said, we would like to recommend that you read two recent articles about these authors: a ‘think piece’ Jancis Robinson wrote which appeared in The Financial Times on September 4, and an interview with Karen MacNeil from the September 8 St. Helena Star.

Among other things, Jancis reflects on what it means today to be considered a ‘wine expert,’ and how social media has changed that definition.

“…as someone celebrating her 40th year writing about wine, I have to concede I am considered by many as a wine expert. However, I am keenly aware of the sands that have been shifting under the notion of expertise in this era of instant communication and (often anti-) social media…..

The wine market today is more crowded than ever. As wine production has transformed itself from peasant activity to plutocrat’s bucolic folly, and as drinking wine has become a social signifier on every continent…..consumers are presented with a baffling array of choices. And, as producers strive to make better and better wine every year just to stay in the game, so they have to shout louder and louder to get attention…..

This may partly explain why some days no fewer than six or seven boxes of unsolicited samples arrive on my doorstep — more than ever before — in the hope that I will publish a tasting note on them. But could it also have something to do with the fact that, even in this era of the citizen critic, my 40 years of visiting vineyards, listening to winemakers, watching trends emerge, making comparisons and seeing wines evolve from barrel to decades in bottle might just be regarded as worth something?…I have gone from being a unique provider of information to having to fight for attention….”

Well said, Jancis, and a cautionary note to all the PR and marketing folk out there contemplating their sampling lists.

Next, let’s acknowledge Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible.  She talked about the enormous work involved in writing it: “…I spent 10 years creating the first version of The Wine Bible and four more years completely rewriting it and updating the maps, charts and photos for this new version,” she said….”

And then there’s the book’s huge success: “…since its release in 2000 it has sold more than 750,000 copies, making it the best-selling single volume wine book in the history of U.S. publishing…”

One key takeaway from learning about Karen’s work and this impressive book might be R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Extend that courtesy to all wine writers: you may never know how much work has gone into their lives as writers, what their work load is, what pressures and politics sway them as they pursue something as ‘straight forward’ as wine writing.