(Chicagoist) - Wine lovers can look forward to the expansion and emergence of several interesting trends this year—but what exactly are they?

We asked a group of sommeliers around Chicago to look into their crystal Zalto Burgundy glasses to predict what they see as the top wine trends coming in 2016. There were five trends that stood out:

Rosés and light red wines

While rosé has been hot for a number of years, somms predict that trend will continue in 2016, but with a few twists.

First, while rosé is an obvious choice for summer, you'll start seeing it on wine lists even now that temperatures have dropped. Jamie McNee, Wine Director at Community Tavern tells us, “It is no longer just a summer wine. I took rosé off of our wine list when the weather started to change yet still saw a demand for still and sparkling rosés in the colder months, so I brought it back!” So, while you await the spring arrival of the ever popular Ameztoi Txakolina Rosato Rubentis, you'll now have some pink wines to enjoy throughout the winter.

Another twist to the rosé trend is pushing the color just a bit from pink to light red wines. Once warm weather returns, expect to see the emergence of light, slightly chilled red wines. “Thin skinned, pale red wine with high acid will sneak in to share the market with rosé, being delightful and versatile with a slight chill applied,” says Rachel Driver Speckan, beverage director and wine education director at City Winery in Chicago.

We dug a bit deeper to find out what some somms thought were the emerging lighter reds we should be looking for. “Austrian reds are a great value for the price and they are delicious!” explains Christy Fuhrman, Sommelier at Vera. “Estates such as Weninger produce six different blaufrankish wines from six different soil types bottled individually.”

Value-friendly wine regions delivering high quality wines.

There's no doubt that Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa and Piedmont produce some great wines. But if you're looking for wines that won't break the bank, somms are predicting that awareness of high quality wines from growing areas of lesser renown will see consumers looking to places like South Africa, Croatia, and Greece.

If you think South Africa is nothing more that pinotage and boring chenin blanc, guess again.

"I am looking at very unique expressions coming out of South Africa. Now that the winemakers in that remote part of the world have stepped up their game over the past decade, some beautiful wines are coming out from that region. South Africa has unique, ancient soils, which create a lot of old world nuances in their new world wines,” says Alex Smith of ENO Wine Room.

I recently tasted through the amazing terroir-driven wines of Catherine Marshall and I have to tell you, these ain't your mama's chenin blancs. Along with chenin, Catherine Marshall notably produces a great balanced pinot noir and a lush merlot.

Croatia is another wine region somms are looking to in 2016.

“When I present a wine from Croatia, all are singular in their expressions, and interest is peaked for their individual stories and brings them together in a way that is presented with representative honesty at the forefront rather than a marketing driven delivery,” says John Aranza, Owner and Wine Director at Autre Monde Cafe and Spirits. And it's these stories that young wine drinkers in particular are looking for. Several consumer studies have shown that millennial wine drinkers are far more interested in an intriguing story about a value priced wine than about a pricier, trophy wine that was given 100 points from a well-known critic.

Another area somms are looking at to emerge as a quality, value driven wine region is Greece. “For years, writers have predicted that this is the year of Greek wine, but 2016 will actually prove to be huge for Greek wines. Not only are there great values in Greek wine because of the strength of the American dollar, but also Chicago is probably the best Greek wine market in America. Ted Diamantis of Diamond Wine Imports continues to bring amazing Greek wines that can be compared to Chablis, barbera and other more well-known grapes. A new Greek importer, DNS, has some of the most fascinating and food-friendly wines I have tasted this past year,” says Jon McDaniel, GM and Sommelier at Acanto.

One of the most interesting wines I tasted last year was the 2014 Glinavos Paleokerisio Semi-Sparkling Orange wine. It was a bit geeky, with a bit of a rubbery smell reminiscent of some rieslings, but really intriguing and fun to drink