Although I might like to think of fashion in wine being all about style, quality and discovery, the fact is that trends are often shaped by wider economic and political factors that have little to do with taste.
Take the mini boom enjoyed by Australian wine in the UK earlier in the decade. That was a side-effect of Aussie producers lowering prices to fill a gap caused by swingeing tariffs in their main export market, China. Or the rise, over the past couple of years, in wines with alcohol contents below 11.5% abv – a UK development which was at least as much about beating the threshold for new higher duty rates as it was about satisfying demand for lighter styles.
