To please taste buds of consumers with a well selected wine is not a simple task as a number of factors as age, genre, or origin affect the selection and preference of people. The current trend in Slovakia indicates the return to quality local products. This is valid also when picking up silent and sparkling wine.
“Heavy barrique wines are not popular any more and consumers prefer rather lighter wines of the fruity style,” said Štefan Valovič, the president of the Association of Sommeliers of the Slovak Republic. “During warmer months the demand for wine rosé is constantly growing.”
Within the category of sparkling wines, demi-sec sparking wines dominate in Slovakia.
The age of the consumer plays a significant role when selecting a wine. Valovič characterized clients: “Young people are very affected by the consumer society. Sweet drinks have been in fact accompanying them through the entire period of their growing up and thus they prefer sweet tastes also in the wine. Growing older they change also their eating habits and their consumption of sweet beverages decreases. People in the mature age prefer rather dry wines.”
The same is valid when selecting sparkling wines. Sparkling wines marked brut nature, extra brut, brut and extra dry are considered to be the wines of experts. And the dry sparking wine is becoming more popular in the country.
Women usually reach for sparking wines produced from aromatic varieties. Among ladies there are also popular rosé sparkling wines.
“Women have naturally more sensitive perceptions and thus they look for juicy, harmonic and nose-flattering aromatic wines,” said Valovič. On the other hand, men prefer wines with harder characters, either with acids in the case of white wines or tannin in the case of red wines.
The increased culture of wine consumption and the number of available sommelier information change also preferences of wine consumers, with regards to the origin of the wine. When selecting wines, they more appreciate the true quality of local grapes and remain truthful to Slovak wines.
“The origin of clients also determines their preferences,” said Valovič. “While wine lovers from Mediterranean and more southern countries prefer rather dry and lighter wines, people from northern countries accept wines with a higher content of alcohol or residual sugar,” said Valovič.
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