Wine Quality Improvement

Good wine is getting better. And this has nothing to do with improving the grapes or the techniques that wineries use.

The winemaker knows which of those barrels contains the best wines—and which barrels contain lesser-quality wine. If less wine is required, the wine that is bottled comes from the best barrels. jazz3311/Shutterstock

With wine sales as slow as they have been in two decades, most of the industry news recently has been about the hardships wineries are facing as new wine consumers seek alternative products.

Although much research has been done in the area of making better quality, lower-alcohol, or zero-alcohol wines that seem to be in demand from younger consumers, not much in a practical sense has resulted in breakthroughs in this area.