Ep. 2597 Wine in Transition: Declining Demand, De-Alcoholised Wine & New Alternatives with Robert Joseph | On the Road with Stevie Kim

Welcome to On the Road Edition and Episode 2597 of the Italian Wine Podcast. In this episode, Stevie Kim is in conversation with Robert Joseph about his recent three-part series published on Substack, exploring how the global wine industry is changing. The discussion focuses on declining wine production, shifting drinking habits, and the growing number of alternatives to traditional wine at social gatherings. Robert also shares his own hands-on experience with this transformation, including his work on no-alcohol wine projects in France and a sparkling tea venture in Georgia.

You can read Robert’s recent articles at: https://robertejoseph.substack.com/ 

More about today’s guest:

Until June 2025, Robert Joseph was associate editor of Meininger’s Wine Business International, which he helped to launch in 2006. In 1983, after living in Burgundy for five years, he moved back to London, where he launched Wine International magazine; set up the International Wine Challenge; became a wine writer for the Sunday Telegraph, and wrote The Wine Lists, the first of his 25 books. He has chaired and launched over 50 wine competitions in Asia, Europe and the UK and has been in Who’s Who since 2013.

Awards he has received include the Jacob’s Creek ‘Golden Vine’; ‘the Best Wine Guide in the World’; the Glenfiddich; The Wine Guild of the United Kingdom Premier; the Marques de Caceres and the inaugural Vinventions Innovation Award. He regularly gives keynote presentations, appears on television and radio and has lectured at the Wine & Spirits Educational Trust, Geisenheim, Burgundy and Sonoma Wine Business Schools. Joseph is one of the trio behind Hugh Kevin & Robert Wines whose le Grand Noir range now sell over 3.8m bottles per year in over 60 countries. His website is winethinker.com. His newest ventures include the Wine Thinking Substack and K’AVSHIRI, a ground-breaking set of wines from Georgian wine venture. Two new books, Wine Thinking and The Wine People will be published in 2025.

Connect:

Website: https://winethinker.com/ 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertejoseph/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wine_thinker/ 

More about the host:

Stevie Kim is an Italian wine marketing & communication expert, bandpositioning specialist, and public speaker based in Verona, Italy. As Managing Partner at Vinitaly, she leads key initiatives, including OperaWine, Vinitaly International Academy, wine2wine Business Forum, and 5StarWines. A passionate Italian Wine Evangelist, she harnesses social media and education to promote Italian wine on a global scale.

The Italian Wine Podcast is part of Mamma Jumbo Shrimp, a brand Stevie launched in 2020 to make wine more accessible through books, maps, videos, and the Italian Wine Travel with Stevie YouTube series. Stevie often joins Professor Scienza in his shows to lend a hand keeping our Professor in check! You can also find her taking a hit for the team when she goes “On the Road”, all over the Italian countryside, visiting wineries and interviewing producers, enjoying their best food and wine – all in the name of bringing us great Pods!

Connect:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steviekim222/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevie-kim-0646b04/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mammajumboshrimp 

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