Wine & People: what (will) connect us?
Registration and coffee
Opening
Our wine consumers aren't thinking about us: the myths and realities of how people choose wine, and what this mean for Bulgarian wine
Most wine drinkers choose quickly, with little knowledge and far less loyalty than producers assume. This session sets the wine industry's most persistent myths against the evidence on how people really buy, and what Bulgarian wine producers need to know to find their place in a crowded market.
To understand Bulgarian consumers - what they think, what they want, what motivates them, and what holds them back - we must first get to know them. Our proposal is: data rather than stereotypes, with a particular focus on Bulgarian women and young people.
The presentation examines changing patterns of alcohol and wine consumption among Generation Z in comparison with Millennials, focusing on their attitudes, habits, and preferences across different drink categories. Particular attention is paid to women as consumers: their shopping patterns, the different consumer types they represent, and how marketing can better understand and respond to their real needs. By comparing beer and wine, the presentation explores how occasion, accessibility, and social context shape beverage choice.
It also challenges persistent stereotypes in wine marketing and addresses a key question: how can we create communication in which different audiences recognise themselves? The discussion focuses on understanding consumer objections, identifying barriers to consumption, and selecting appropriate communication approaches grounded in data, measurable indicators, and a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour.
Panel: Why does Bulgarian wine remain absent from the glasses in Bulgarian restaurants?
Lunch
Zeynep Arca Şallıel – From the Land to the People: How Does Wine Connect Us?
A terroir of data: AI, wine and human choice
AI is already monitoring vineyards, predicting disease, tracking fermentation and writing tasting notes. The question is no longer “What can the machine do?” but “What do we want to allow it to do?”
In this session we’ll look at experiments that cast AI as storyteller, creator and adviser. We’ll see where it performs surprisingly well, where it fails, and where we can’t tell the difference. Taking an unconventional view of technology, we’ll explore the line between “the machine helps” and “the machine does”, and the point where human judgement, context and responsibility still create value.
There will also be an interactive experiment. After “Did you get it right?” comes the trickier question: “Does it matter?”.
Coffee break
Panel: The Cultural and Philosophical Aspect of Wine in the Age of AI.
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine): Why everything we know about the wine business is changing, and why that's good for all of us?
The ground under the wine business is moving on almost every front at once: who buys wine, how they buy it, how it reaches them, what they'll pay for, why they visit and where wine lives in culture at all. Taken one session at a time, that can sound like a lot to absorb. Polly Hammond will argue it's simpler than it looks, and point to where Bulgarian producers have room to act now.