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🌀 Unlocking Taste Through Trance

🌀 Unlocking Taste Through Trance

In this week’s DECORKED digest, we dive into Africa’s rising wine influence, the limits of China’s thirst for Aussie wine, a rosé revolution in Provence, and the curious world of hypnosis-led tastings.

May 05, 2025

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Happy Monday! We hope you have a great week ahead. In this week’s DECORKED digest, we dive into Africa’s rising wine influence, the limits of China’s thirst for Aussie wine, a rosé revolution in Provence, and the curious world of hypnosis-led tastings. Keep reading!

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Read the most important and interesting news this week.

🍾 ProWine Tokyo 2025 breaks records with global vision and local synergy READ HERE

✂️ LVMH to cut 10% of wine and spirits staff amid luxury slowdown READ HERE

🍷 Paris bars accused of passing off cheap wine as premium READ HERE

🔥 South Africa’s historic wine region faces wildfire threat READ HERE

📈 China’s non-alcoholic wine boom means business READ HERE

🍇 Why emerging varieties found a home in Victoria READ HERE

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We curate, filter, and select only the most exciting and important news for you.

AFRICA’S WINE AWAKENING

Africa’s emerging wine markets are gaining serious attention, with countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Angola showing strong growth in consumption and interest. Rising middle classes, improved infrastructure, and a taste for premium imports are driving demand, especially for French and South African wines. Producers are expanding their presence, with Bordeaux houses and major négociants building lasting relationships across the continent. With only 1.5% of global wine exports currently going to Africa, the opportunity is clear; and growing.

CHINA CAN'T SOLVE AUSTRALIA’S WINE GLUT

Australian wine exports surged in value over the past year, driven largely by premium shipments to mainland China following the removal of tariffs. While the average export value hit a 20-year high, volumes remain well below historic peaks, and oversupply remains unresolved. Mainland China has proven to be a high-value market, but not one large enough in volume to offset declines in the U.S., U.K., and Canada - markets struggling with falling demand and new trade barriers. With global economic pressures mounting, Australia’s wine industry faces ongoing challenges despite recent gains.

A NEW CHAPTER FOR PROVENCE ROSÉ

In Provence, some winemakers are rethinking the crisp, reductive style that made the region’s rosé world-famous. Instead of avoiding oxygen at all costs, they’re starting to let a little in to bring out deeper flavors, texture, and character. While the classic pale, fruit-forward rosé still dominates, these producers believe a more balanced approach can showcase the region’s diversity and terroir. It’s a quiet but meaningful shift, led by those who want their rosé to offer not just freshness, but also complexity and longevity.

WORKING WITH NATURE, NOT AGAINST IT

As organic wine production expands, some producers are pushing beyond certification toward regenerative viticulture, seeing it not just as an ideal, but as a necessity. Scaling up organically brings real challenges, from pest control to sourcing certified inputs at volume, especially in climates with added environmental stress. The solution lies in working with nature: enhancing biodiversity, restoring soil health, and using tools like compost, cover crops, native vegetation, and even birdhouses to build natural resilience. Rather than chasing perfection through control, these producers are finding consistency through deeper ecosystem understanding and long-term sustainability.

TASTING WITH THE UNCONSCIOUS

In Bordeaux and beyond, a new kind of wine tasting is emerging - one guided by hypnosis. Using light trance techniques, hypnotherapists are helping tasters bypass standard expectations and engage their emotional memory to experience wine more deeply. By activating the subconscious, participants report heightened sensory impressions, though some say the effect fades after a few minutes. While still niche, this approach is gaining popularity among professionals and estates seeking a more immersive, introspective way to connect people to wine that blends neuroscience, storytelling, and sensory exploration.

NEW ZEALAND’S 2025 VINTAGE MARKS A STRONG COMEBACK

After a challenging 2024, New Zealand’s 2025 wine harvest delivered both normalised yields and high-quality fruit across all major regions. A warm spring, cooler early summer, and classic Indian summer set the stage for wines of finesse and balance. From Marlborough’s extended harvest of pristine fruit to standout Chardonnays in Auckland and Gisborne, and concentrated, expressive reds in Central Otago and Hawke’s Bay, winemakers are optimistic.

NEW RESEARCH CONFIRMS THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF WINE

A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology has found that moderate wine consumption, especially sparkling and white, can significantly reduce the risk of sudden heart attack. Based on long-term data from the UK Biobank, the research identifies drinking wine as one of the top four heart-healthy lifestyle changes, ahead of reducing BMI or improving sleep. Even though critics remain cautious, this study strengthens the case that moderate wine consumption may have real health benefits, offering a much-needed boost to an industry often overshadowed by negative headlines.

Discover wine events worldwide.

🥂 Tasting Australia (May 2 - 11, South Australia) - LEARN MORE

🥂 Valtice Wine Markets (May 9 - 10, Valtice, Czechia) - LEARN MORE

🥂 Vinous Icons: Italy (May 14 - 17, New York, US) - LEARN MORE

🥂 Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience (May 15 - 18, California, US) - LEARN MORE

🥂 London Wine Fair (May 19 - 21, London, UK) - LEARN MORE

🥂 BottleRock Napa Valley (May 23 - 25, California, US) - LEARN MORE

Learn something new every week.

WINE REGION OF THE WEEK: VOJVODINA, SERBIA

Vojvodina, in northern Serbia, is one of the country’s two main winegrowing regions, known for its flat landscapes, fertile soils, and strong Hungarian influence. While smaller than Central Serbia, it encompasses seven subregions, with Srem (set on the Fruška Gora hills) standing out for its quality and grape diversity, including Chardonnay, Grašac, Pinot Noir, and Furmint.

GRAPE OF THE WEEK: FURMINT

Furmint is Hungary’s flagship white grape, best known for its role in producing the legendary Tokaji wines. Valued for its high acidity and botrytis susceptibility, it creates complex, long-lived sweet wines when blended with Hárslevelű and Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains. Also used in rich, dry styles, Furmint offers flavors from lime and pear to spice and apricot as it ages, confirming its reputation as one of Europe’s most distinctive and age-worthy white varieties.

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