May 1 2009
Precious few wine drinkers understand the myriad of issues that get bandied about in the wine literati community – BioD and organic versus “normal” viticulture, natural wine versus everything else, terroir versus taste profile, volume production versus small production, French oak versus oak chips, artisan small production versus national, large production or any of the other dozen issues that act as micro-flash points for a small cadre of wine enthusiasts.
Nor do most people care.
Creating mindshare and understanding within such swirl is half the battle for the business of wine.
Simply, not enough people understand wine-related issues because scant few can be distilled down into a CNN headline news ticker.
However, what everybody understands is the difference between a special effects laden popcorn blockbuster like Iron Man vs. art house with Slumdog Millionaire.
People understand, generally, the difference between Us magazine and long-form journalism ala The New Yorker.
People understand the difference between art and entertainment.
People SHOULD, emphasis on “should,” get a causal difference between a wine that is meant to be enjoyed as a mindless quaff versus a wine with intent of purpose.
Art, in its most rudimentary definition, is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression.
For the sake of emphasis, People SHOULD get a causal difference between a wine that is meant to be enjoyed as a mindless quaff versus a wine with intent of purpose.
And, mostly this delta between art and entertainment is self-selecting. I’m more art house than blockbuster. More journalism than slice o’ pop culture.
I understand this about myself. But, do most people understand themselves related to wine? The answer is no.
But, to get to understanding, you have to start conceptually at a 100,000 feet before you can get to the granular details.
The wine business wants to start at ground-level and work up, not top down.
And, therein lies the rub. Most wine drinkers don’t know enough to be self-selecting. They look at the wall of wine, without differentiation, and take a pig in the poke based on dollars and cents.
Despite being aware of this, we battle it out with words and conversations about manipulation, oak by-products and other conversational topics that induce bouts of boredom, if not tears, for most wine drinkers, without a larger emphasis on context.
Yet, with an economic assault on the wine industry via “trading down” whereby volume producers and imports are bludgeoning the high-end wine industry, now might be a good time to create a culture war.
As Mondavi said in his autobiography, “Making good wine is a skill; making fine wine is an art. ...”
The supermarket is riddled with good wine. However, frequently, only off the beaten path, or on the top, more expensive shelf, depending on where you look, does art exist.
I say this not as an assailant on large producers. I say this as an impassioned observer who thinks the greatest barrier-to-entry for wine business growth is complexity, and I’m not talking about complexity in the nose of a wine with great “legs.”
Amy from My Daily Wine, in a nice post on art and wine asks, “What is your connection to art and wine?”
Good question. For me, perhaps sub-consciously, it’s my adherence to an artistic sensibility despite the fact that I’ve tried painting and pottery and simply am not artistic in a classical sense.
Amy observes:
Wine is art to me and the winemakers are artists. Some bottles are like a cheap velvet Elvis and some are like the Mona Lisa, and the great ones for me are like Frida Kahlo on a sad but defiant day.
If you believe wine is art, as I do, as Amy does, as Mondavi does, then why aren’t boutique wine producers aligned with other artisans, potters and sculptors, painters and poets, musicians and maestros?
The Americans for the Arts Organization perpetually fights this art battle, ensuring ongoing mindshare of the arts, all kinds of arts, for all age groups, in our communities.
I have two thoughts on this – any mid-sized or large city in the country, if stripped of its business and sports teams could keep a snapping vitality because of one factor – the arts community.
No greater example of this exists than in New Orleans.
Secondarily, no greater opportunity exists for small production wineries and the wine business than to get their voice included in the arts conversation. Support and inclusion in Americans for the Arts is certainly one way to start.
With continued economic pressure on high-end producers, those who don’t have economies of scale to leverage in the marketplace, a saving grace might be to help further define the understanding for all wine drinkers, not a sub-set, that wine is art.
Help wine drinkers of all stripes become self-selecting for reasons other than price.
You’re still going to have blockbuster movies that drive the market, but the ratio of wins to losses just might be increased for smaller producers if they start a culture war and include themselves in the art conversation.
Additional reading:
Art Commerce, Commerce Art by Jeff Bundschu
What I blogged about a year ago:
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (8) |
I’m going to say something unpopular: wine is not art. There are many paths to appeal to the senses and emotions, of which art is certainly one. It’s more a reflection on human psychology that we attribute being “moved” to something with artistic intent. Otherwise, we feel duped.
I make wine for a living. I invest as much blood, sweat, and tears into something that gets panned by the critics as something that gets praised. I am not free to create whatever I want - that is artistry. I can only work with what nature gives me. Is a painter any less gifted if his palate is missing red or yellow?
It is silly to anthropomorphize wine. An artistic creation may or may not reveal the intent of the artist; the result is sometimes incorrectly decided by the observer. At it’s worst, art can be disingenuous, it has all the intent to appeal to the sense or emotions, without any skill behind the arranging the elements.
Jason wine is as much art as it is a a commodity, and science. You do it for a living so you know the daily in and out, but when someone has a good bottle of wine with dinner or just sharing it with a loved one or friend that wine becomes the catalyst for a memorable evening. It becomes a part of that moment. Just as a photo or painting or sculpture and grab a person or a couple and enthrall them with the beauty they percieve. Duchamp proved that art is….
Thanks for the comments, guys.
It’s hard for me to argue with Jason given his bio and his status as a winemaker, though I guess the only counterpoint I would make is that Ansel Adams was an artist.
He took what nature gave him, added his own craft to it and become a celebrated artist.
Wine isn’t any different in my book.
Thanks again for reading, gents. I appreciate it!
First, I’m not sure exactly what “mindshare” is, but it sounds way too Orwellian for anyone’s good.
Second, I, too make wine for a living. The quote from Mondavi about good wine v. fine wine is just asinine. Mondavi was a brilliant marketer, and that’s a brilliant marketing comment- nothing more, nothing less. People who don’t make wine may or may not find art in wine, but I know very few wine production professionals who would ever conflate good- or even great- wine with art or artistry. Just because a bottle becomes a catalyst for a great evening doesn’t render it art- it simply means you had a good bottle of wine.
Regards,
jb
Is there a difference between John Coltrane and Kenny G? (...that was a rhetorical question). And do you have any idea how many more records the “recording artist” Kenny G has sold? Millions upon millions more. And how many more people have seen Kenny G in concert than ever saw Coltrane?
Similarly not all wines are made by artists.
Ironically, Mondavi’s statement was pretty artistic while I can’t say the same thing about his wines. When you make 10 million cases of wine and distribute it to 90 countries you kinda lose that artistic touch.
I know plenty of winemakers who think that what they do is an art. And a craft. And a science. (I know many musicians who feel the same way - in about the same proportions) It’s about the difference between art and entertainment. Handmade wine is art, while industrial wine can be entertaining but is ultimately about artifice.
And for the record, I consume lots of entertainment in my life. No-one can live in a constant state of artistic focus. You’d go crazy.
And yes, I too make wine for a living.
Interesting dialogue above. But I wanted to comment on Jeff’s idea about boutique wineries aligning themselves with the arts community.
Again, we get into that territory of wine being perceived as snobbish and elitist. I think many Americans feel just as overwhelmed by the arts community, as they do when they walk into a wine shop.
Thanks for the spirited perspectives.
Amy, thanks as always, for commenting.
I think the issue on arts and elitism might be a geographical thing.
Here in the Midwest the arts community is very low-key and less driven by the big galleries and $$$.
I think that’s the case in most places that aren’t Top 10 metros.
Jeff
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I didn’t consider wine art until I met the people who were behind the bottles. It was only then that I realized the devotion to the craft and the relentless vision some winemakers hold for their product. There’s an intent to express something there and I see it now.