It's A New Year And A New Story

It's a tricky business given the fickle nature of West Coast wine drinkers. Perhaps the only certainty is our propensity to adapt to new wines quicker than any other market on the continent.

We begin with screw cap closures only to suggest that what was once a trend is now fact.

To the wineries and retailers who still have their doubts about the twist top, be prepared for comments about looking old-fashioned or, worse, having your cork-finished product shunned by the trend setting under-30 crowd. Twist tops appeal to older crowds too. It seems they, like the young, appreciate the easy access opener.

Interestingly, the screw cap debate has broken down other wine packaging barriers putting boxed or cask wine back in the limelight for 2006. Cask wine is so hot in Australia and the U.K., it's beginning to grab the attention of large national wine buyers in the U.S. and Canada.

French wine giant Boisset has already tested its French Rabbit cask in Ontario, and said that the wine was a resounding success. They sold five times as much product in state-of-the-art Tetra Prisma packaging in Eastern Canada as in conventional bottles.

This time the catch is "environmentally friendly" packaging. Glass makes up around 40 per cent of the weight of a bottle of wine, but Tetra Prisma is only 4 per cent. A truckload of wines in Tetra is equal to dozens of trucks of conventional glass bottles. Conservation minded consumers will take note.

As for wine trends in 2006:

* An unprecedented demand for red wine has left that sector's shelves sagging with so much boring and inferior product that I believe consumers will respond by heading back to white wine.

* A growing white wine category, that will complement an already surging riesling, sauvignon blanc and new look chardonnay market, is the "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" blend.

The mix of varying amounts of sauvignon, semillon, chardonnay, chenin blanc, viognier and more is spawning a number of fun, modern tasting wines with intense flavours that will appeal to red wine drinkers who like big flavour.

* Rose with food will continue to build a following in 2006.

* With so many blended wines and fantasy labels making their way to the market, who the producer is, and where the wine comes from (appellation), will become increasingly important, even if it only appears on the back label.

* Specificity or matching a grape to a region is another strong trend. Napa Valley and cabernet sauvignon may be obvious, but it's the Mendoza malbec, Adelaide Hills chardonnay, Clare Valley riesling, Walla Walla merlot, Sancerre sauvignon blanc, Champagne, Apulia nero d'avola, and Okanagan pinot gris and friends that will grab headlines.

* Pinot noir's star continues to rise in the wake of the hit film Sideways, although the finicky grape with the thin skin isn't as amenable to trendy-ness as some opportunistic producers would like. Translation: There is a lot pinot junk out there, so shop carefully.

* Locally it's difficult to know what to expect. Demand is forcing up prices for B.C. wine, and that's attracting more money into the sector. But amid the success, many old issues remain unresolved, including the future of national and provincial wine standards, and the future of VQA and its marketing arm, the B.C. Wine Institute.

There will be a new independent B.C. wine authority in 2006, set up to govern production standards for all wineries, but whether B.C. wineries will resolve their difference and unite under one single marketing umbrella remains the key unresolved question. It would be my view the industry's future depends on a unified commission with a firm mandate to aggressively market British Columbian wine.

Here are six quick picks which should demonstrate some of what's coming in 2006.

The Du Peloux Ugni Viognier 2004 is making waves in private wine shops (another trend for 2006). The unusual mix of ugni blanc and viognier, closed with a screwcap, can be served solo as an aperitif or with a chicken salad.

The mixed blend is Golden Mile Road 13 -- a melange of ehrenfelser, pinot gris, schönburger and viognier. Soft with floral, mineral, peach-skin flavours. Simple ready-to-drink B.C. white.

The Wirra Wirra Scrubby Rise Sauvignon Blanc Semillon Viognier is another white blend that delivers. Look for green melon, passion fruit, mineral, lime flavours with a touch of creamy, honey in the juicy finish. Fine value.

The Willowglen Petite Sirah 2004 is another private wine shop pick. It's round, fresh and slightly sweet with spicy, licorice, vanilla, black cherry jam, plum, spicy, mocha flavours.

You could say rose is retro, so bring on the icon Mateus Rose. It's dry, but fresh with some spritz, light cherry, citrus, earthy, mineral apple flavours and a slightly sweet finish. Good fun.

A Kenwood Pinot Noir 2004 from the Russian River for $24 is already a celebration. The velvety textures and spicy, rootsy, smoky cherry jam and orange rind flavours are bonus. This is ready to sip -- think duck or mushroom flavoured dishes.