Expect cheap Chinese wines on the shelves soon

 Some interesting wine trends were revealed at last week's Nederburg Wine Auction by the keynote speaker, Professor Monika Christmann, of the Geisenheim Wine Institute, in Germany.

Statistics, she said, showed that wine consumption was declining globally, particularly in countries where wine has traditionally formed part of everyday life.

Wine production, on the other hand, is increasing in many countries not normally associated with wine, like China and India. China is already the fourth-largest producer of wine grapes in the world.

We are likely to see cheap Chinese wines hitting the world markets before long. (What's new?)

Climate change is having its effect, too, and countries like Holland, Denmark and Sweden are becoming serious wine producers.

Wine technology is also advancing and many countries are experimenting with techniques to alter wines. Alcohol levels are being manipulated, colour and flavour can be adjusted, sugar levels can be altered.

While these practices are not allowed in the EU at this stage, they are accepted in the US, and American wines are now seen to be competing unfairly on the EU market.

We are likely to see a widening gap between top-end wines made in traditional ways, and "manufactured" wines designed to please the mass markets.

So far, genetically modified vines are only a vague threat, but they cannot be ignored.

The world trend is for consumer protection, and we are likely to see an increasing number of health warnings being posted on wines, listing possible allergens, for example.

If Professor Christmann's predictions are correct we're on the brink of big changes in the wines we find on our supermarket shelves.