Driven by shifting tastes and consumer behaviour, emerging regions, and the impact of climate change, the wine world is fast evolving – and the newest wine producer to watch is China.
In just two years, the Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards has emerged as an important event for evaluating China’s top wines. Judging week wrapped up on 5 March, with numerous experts from around the world sniffing, sipping and swirling some 900 types of wines from nearly 200 Chinese wineries.
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Among the judges was Konstantin Baum (Germany’s youngest master of wine), also a popular Youtuber who hopes to demystify the wine world through his channel.
We spoke to Konstantin Baum early on in the judging at Wynn Palace, tapping into subjects like the rise of lighter, fresher styles to Gen Z’s changing relationship with alcohol and what winemakers can do, if anything, to engage this generation.
What are the most exciting trends or innovations in the wine world right now?
There are some styles that are certainly developing right now. One is focused on more freshness and elegance, we’re seeing more acidity, more lightness, more fragrance in the premium wine segment. Also, a stronger interest in white wines. In Europe and most of the world the focus was very much on red wines as the category that had the most prestige, and I think that’s changing – quite strongly.
Gen Z seems to be steering clear of traditional drinking culture. How do you see this affecting the wine industry? How can makers engage this generation?
That’s the headline, and I think that’s true. There’s more of a conscious relationship to alcohol, and younger generations are more careful when it comes to alcohol. There’s also quite a bit of misinformation going around right now pushing things to the extreme.
I actually think there is a part of Gen Z very interested in certain alcoholic beverages. In my travels across many countries I often see that younger people are prepared to spend more on high quality wines, more than people were when I was in my twenties. It’s also really important that we, as an industry, learn how to reach those people.
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They cannot be as reached as they were in the past. Getting wine onto social media in different ways in order to attract interest from that demographics is crucial, and for one reason or another many players in the wine world can’t manage to do so. Being present on those platforms is only the first step, but also learning how to engage an audience is really important and that’s very much down to the people that you associate with.
What new wine regions should we keep on our radar, and what styles do they offer?
I like to look into regions where I see there’s kind of a tipping point – [places where] there’s quite interesting wine but no one has quite heard of it yet. This is also why I am here. China has quite a lot of potential, though it’s not a region but a massive country with lots of different regions. I certainly see there’s something there.
Just like people laughed about the wines from Australia 100 years ago, and didn’t think much of the wines of California 50 years ago, people outside Asia don’t really understand Chinese wine but there will be a shift. From what I’ve tasted from China, there’s a lot of potential there and great quality.
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New York state – not the city but the state around it – is another region that fascinates me right now, it has quite a lot of light, elegant wines coming out of that region. Climate change has allowed viticulture to grow. Before, it was just too cold.
There’s also quite a lot going on right now in Eastern Europe. After Soviet times, the wine industry in most of those countries was not adapted to producing quality wine, but now countries like Georgia and Hungary are all changing their ways, introducing new methods and producing great wines. There’s lots to discover still.
Which wines will you be stocking up after Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards? Which label has surprised you the most?
I’ve developed an interest in Marselan as a great variety – it shows great potential. I thought the shiraz we tasted today from different parts of China was also quite interesting, there might be something there. There was also one muscat that was quite beautiful. I am open to seeing more.
Do you have any recommendations for wines under US$30 for someone who’s looking to kickstart their wine journey?
You can find great value in that category. From Germany for example you could go with a kabinett riesling, Dr. Loosen should be available here because they’re everywhere. Spanish white wines offer tremendous value and are absolutely delicious. White rioja is also a category that blew me away last year – they won’t cost you US$30 but for 60 to 70 you can get the top wine. Portugal is another amazing source of value wines, and still so underrated.
A famous sommelier once told us that the wine list of the future would feature no more than two bottles: one red and one white. If that is the case, which two wines would you include on this list?
That’s definitely not a future I would want to live in (laughs), it’s a horrible vision of the future in my opinion. I actually think that the wine list of the future would be even more diverse than it is right now. Look at the wine list of most Michelin-starred restaurants. Years ago there was France, 80 percent, a little bit of Italy, a little bit of Spain, and there might have been maybe German sweet wines and that was kind of it. Now you go into a Michelin-starred restaurant and they have natural wine. Most of them have wines hailing from various regions.
You cover a wide range of wines on your YouTube channel, from budget-friendly options to rare, historic bottles. How do you go about selecting the wines you feature?
I have a really wide interest. Also, as a master of wine I need to have a global perspective on wine, also a deep perspective on wine, from what happens at the entry level to what happens in the premium segment.
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My team and I select which topic we want to cover, then they go out and look out for interesting wines. We purchase almost all of the wines we feature. The bottle of Petrus? I bought that, and the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti La Tache too. Sometimes I do accept samples, if it works out like that, but I don’t have any strings attached. I really want to talk freely about those wines.
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about wine appreciation over the years?
(Laughs) How much time have you got? What still inspires me about this business is that it’s such an amazing community of people, the people who make wine, most of them with a lot of heart, and through hardship. They have to invest money, time and effort in order to produce a product that is sometimes difficult to sell. They do it because they believe there’s something special there.
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For me personally, wine enriches my life. It allows me to travel through time, space. The most successful video on my channel is the video where I opened this bottle of 1863 Burmester port, a 162-year old wine that still tasted beautifully. It was made during the American Civil War and managed to survive all that time.
I also think smelling and tasting wine enlarges your cognitive abilities – being able to taste focused, using your nose and brain to identify the great variety of a certain wine. Finally, it brings people together.
Climate change is transforming the world, how is it impacting the wine industry?
Climate change is something that scares me, in general. But if you look at climate change and its impact on wine, it’s more complex. Germany has benefitted over the last few decades from climate change and rising temperatures. Previously it was a bit too cold to produce high-quality wines, especially complex red wines. New York state, which I mentioned earlier, has also benefited from climate change.
There are other wine regions that’ve been much more harshly affected by it. And there will be regions that’ll probably stop producing wine at some point but I think most of the industry will learn to adapt and do viticulture in a changing climate.
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The bigger problem right now is the lack of demand. It’s a matter of communication. There’s a big segment of mid-range wineries that can go away and no one would notice. I wouldn’t mind losing a few million litres of wine on this planet – there’s quite a lot of really bad wine.
