Snooth Talk: Future of Wine report by BBR

Wine Talk

: Future of Wine report by BBR; Posted by Philip, May 10.; The venerable British store, Berry Brothers Rudd (over 310 years of continuous operation), just put out their Future of Wine report:
http://www.bbr.com/GB/wine-knowledge/future-of-wine-report

A great read, well written and although most of it is hardly ground breaking (screw caps to replace cork for example) its very enjoyable.

Highlights:

- China, Eastern Europe and other places on a similar latitude to rival bordeaux. British Sparkling wine even gets a mention. Although thats already todays news.
- With global warming, Australia to suffer in wine production
- Major brands to rule the world - based on the present day example of Fosters sourcing its grapes for the Lindemans brand from Chile and South Africa
- Synthetic corks and plastic / tera pak's to replace current inefficient, expensive and heavy packaging

My gripe is that it doesnt go far enough, its more a report on the near future - all the things mentioned are already in play to some extent: screw caps, plastic bottles, renowned wineries buying foreign plots of land and major consolidation throughout the industry. Even their nod to "space age digital corks" are commonly known as embedded RFID chips.

I want to hear about wine powder that i can rehydrate and add ethanol to my taste to or human implanted chips that just simulate the enjoyment of drinking wine.

235 68: Reply by Sung, May 12.; Philip, you're so Buck Rogers! Wine Powder?! I'm still overwhelmed that there is Wine Sorbet, which I love!!

216 514: Reply by mark, May 12.; Whoa! Check out the part where they say every Sommelier will have his or her own personal honeybee to help detect corked wines!

http://www.bbr.com/GB/wine-knowledge/finewine?ID=SGS8BDGPQ5000C0

Personally I'm pretty sure that's hogwash. The Sommeliers I have met pride themselves on being able to detect TCA with their highly trained noses. I can't imagine many of them are going to take to the idea of having a familiar.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 12.; i laughed at the word "familiar" - run forth bee and do thine bidding!

235 68: Reply by Sung, May 12.; Are there animal rights implications though, to using personal honey bees to check for corked wines?

31 162: Reply by ccarpita, May 12.; I always laugh at the phrase "space age", meaning any technology developed since 1957. Most of the things it references have nothing to do with outer space. For instance, corks. Or honeybees. In space, nobody can hear you scream from having bees in your suit.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 14.; Dehydrated wine powder, that you could rehydrate and and drink at your leisure sounds like that crappy space food i bought from the gift shop in Cape Canaveral when I was 8 years old. I believe it was "space icecream", but in reality is was some manky, rock hard meringue.

Sadly it still exists: http://www.funkyfoodshop.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=1&CFID=4427062&CFTOKEN=21692679

And Chris, speaking of bees, reminds me of the simpsons quote: "Are you gonna let the dogs out? Or the bees out? Or the dogs with bees in their mouth so when they bark they shoot bees at you?"

31 162: Reply by ccarpita, May 14.; Haha, I remember both that Simpson's episode and the Ice Cream from Spaaaaaace. That was a huge disappointment. Tasted like artificially sweetened chalk. It was neopolitan too, so there were three distinct feelings of failure.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 14.; Lol chris - yup, thats exactly the crappy space desert i had. Specifically, I recall biting into it and the three neopolitan flavors fragmenting into three disappointingly monochromatic shards

251 24: Reply by Stephen, May 14.; Ah yes, fond memory of that craptacular dessert, came in the shiny foil-like packaging...Did it only come in neopolitan? Because those are definitely the flavors that I was subjected to...how was this a good idea?

As for the future of wine...I'm not convinced that the tetrapack and screwcaps are going to replace all else, just yet. The environmental benefits of both are suspect, and I think that's going to play an increasingly large role in the success and or failure of new developments.

And in regards to dogs shooting bees out of their mouths, all I can say is Save me Jebus!

165 130: Reply by oceank8, May 15.; Apparently the space ice cream was a good idea because we obviously all bought it. Funny how we all share the same memories of the initial excitement followed by being hugely disappointed. I had my experience with it at Sea World, and yes, mine too was neopolitan.

251 24: Reply by Stephen, May 15.; I'm not sure one and done is a good business model for selling ice cream. Does anyone know someone who actually went back for seconds? I know I didn't.

235 68: Reply by Sung, May 15.; When I was little, I always wondered if I rehydrated it, if it would turn into actual ice cream.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 15.; YES! I totally assumed it was real food that had simply been dehydrated, so if i added some water and froze it, it would actually be ice cream again.

Unfortunately it was about as much fun as those Hatch N Grow dinosaurs: http://www.epinions.com/review/Hatch_N_Grow_Dinosaur_Egg_epi/content_420911812228

I was expecting some mammoth beast to spring forward, but it barely grew at all.

251 24: Reply by Stephen, May 15.; I too wondered about that. Has anyone tried those ice cream dots that they sell in miniature batting helmets at baseball stadiums? Are they cold?

216 514: Reply by mark, May 15.; Do you mean Dippin' Dots? I've had those a few times.

Yep, they're definitely cold. Colder than ice cream usually is. They stick to your tongue like a frozen pole would... Fortunately your tongue melts them pretty quickly into ice cream.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 15.; Yeah, they are ice cream inside some skittles style shell so they remain individual micro-balls inside the helmet. Never tried them myself though, I tend to go for that frozen lemonade thing, which is surprisingly sweet

165 130: Reply by oceank8, May 15.; Dippin Dots are real popular around here. They are frozen in dry ice. They are actually really good and fun because you can truly mix flavors and come up with something totally new.

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 16.; Sounds like Jelly Belly's. My biggest problem with those is i grow so frustrated at eating them singly i toss a handful into my mouth and the resulting mix of flavors is always gross

864 1146: Reply by Philip, May 27.; The future's already here: http://www.spittoon.biz/england_soon_too_hot_for_grape.html

Apparently even the UK (hardly known for its heat) will soon be too hot to grow grapes. Time to start buying that nice little Icelandic plot youve been eyeing