January 19 2009
Recently, I have had the opportunity to see the wine world through a different set of lenses, a newer perspective then the unfortunate, but endemic nonplussed air that sometimes permeates practiced enthusiasts.
I have been enjoyably hanging out with people that enjoy wine, but are coming at it with a relatively slight base of knowledge. In other words, they fit into the same category of millions of other people in this country who are trying to crack the wine code.
While good for my ego because I know the most in the room, it is not a healthy situation for the wine business, in general.
Last week, John Gillespie, released his annual Wine Market Council research. Gillespie was one of the very first to get in front of the Gen. Y/Millenial movement in wine, calling his hand with pocket aces, as the Gen. Y demographic gathered steam five or six years ago.
According to a Winebusiness.com article on the most recent report:
The most positive trend, Gillespie reported, was among the younger generational segments: generation-Xers and millennials. The greatest growth and the most optimistic conclusions from the survey come from millenials, ages 15 to 32. They and the generation-Xers accounted for what Gillespie described as “stunning growth in the core wine-drinking population.” In 2008, nearly half of the millennial segment reported a net 23 percent increase in wine consumption—double that of generation-Xers against minimal or declining figures for the aging baby boomers. Gillespie described this trend as a “trade-off” phenomenon, where better than 10 percent of wine drinkers, primarily generation-Xers, are increasing total wine consumption at the expense of beer and spirits.
I can attest to this growth in both the Gen X segment, as well as the top-end of the Gen. Y demographic.
Having recently become a part of a small, monthly gathering of growing, young wine enthusiasts, I know there is a rippling fascination with wine that is enduring. This is not a flight of fancy or something that eventually gets set aside for the next “thing” du jour.
However, here is where the wine industry is failing them—now and for the future.
Wineries and the wine industry have long ago forgotten what it’s like to be new to wine and the bridge that needs to be traversed between enjoying wine and understanding what you are drinking.
Many of us have diligently worked at it, tasting, tasting, tasting, keeping notes and practicing sensory evaluation. Yet, there are millions upon millions of core wine drinkers who love wine, drink wine all the time who cannot pick out and break down components on the nose or on the palate.
And, that is a shame because nobody makes it easy on them. It is like a secret society that needs to be penetrated and many (most) regular wine consumers do not care to do the studying.
And, it is not their fault.
Ironically, the same core enthusiasts who drink a bunch of wine, but cannot discern the nuance in a wine never likely advance beyond the grocery store, drawing the ire of staunch and practiced enthusiasts for perpetuating industrial wine.
It is a catch-22. Not everybody who enjoys wine and drinks it frequently is built to know how the watch is made, many just want to know what time it is. Just the same, the wine industry is partly responsible and needs to ensure that newer core wine drinkers do not turn into mindless digital clock readers, unable to track the sweeping second hand at a glance.
And, all of this could be alleviated with the handy use of some consumer tools.
What the wine industry needs to provide now, more than ever, is a predominant de facto standard for flavor components like the AC Noble Wine Aroma Wheel, but more consumer-oriented. A complete re-tinkering of this in order to be accessible by consumers is necessary.
In addition, somebody at Le Nez Du Vin needs to get their head out of their ass and realize that if they drop the price on their wine aroma kit from $400 to $100, they will increase their sales volume by 8x. It’s a volume play, not a luxury play. Nothing like the French to screw up a sales strategy on an ongoing basis.
And, yes, I know Wine Enthusiast makes a lower priced point kit; a kit that I promptly sent back for quality reasons, so I cannot recommend it.
That is it, perhaps simplistic, but in order for wine to continue to grow in an orderly and disciplined fashion, with the consumers growing in knowledge, there needs to be an understood tool that acts as an accepted mile marker for wine fans whereby they can lightly study to cross the bridge from frequent and avowed wine drinker to knowledgeable enthusiast. The wine world needs a flavor component tool and study aids in the form of something visual in addition to an affordable Le Nez du Vin.
Is this simplistic? Yes. But, so are politics. Save the domestic car business = write them a check.
Having seen it first hand, and having sent out a half dozen requested emails on what to do to learn more about wine and understanding flavor components, I am convinced this is the single biggest obstacle to more studied appreciation for millions of wine drinkers.
What do you think? Have your say and leave a comment.
Recommended Links
Delong Wine —has a nice sensory evaluation/ wine tasting guide
Essential Wine Tasting Guide—This is my fave and well worth the $12
Posted in, Good Grape Daily: Pomace & Lees. Permalink | Comments (6) |
Tish,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. i agree with you on all counts except for #1
While, personally, I agree with #1, I think for most consumers who are coming at wine aggressively, wine + food adds a complex component with pairing that over complicates things.
I think an affinity for fine food w/ wine comes in time, but for now, the goal is to get ardent wine drinkers to first understand what is in the glass.
The Style thing is something I’m planning on exploring in a post shortly—I don’t think Joshua Wesson has his name attached to the ‘Style’ footnote, as he should.
I’ll message you offline to get your thoughts!
All the best,
Your blog hits home with me - as both a winemaker but, more importantly, as a consumer.
The wine industry seems to continually forget that the avenues for growth in our industry are those people who are currently NOT consuming any or much wine. And it is up to the industry to figure out WHY this is the situation . . .
I think that before we can suggest things like wine aroma kits - which I, by the way, am a huge fan of - we need to ‘empower’ consumers to feel comfortable with their choice in wines. We need to let consumers know that it’s okay to enjoy wines such as white zinfandel, regardless of our own impressions about these wines. We need to empower consumers to realize they are not ‘wrong’ for smelling or tasting what they do because no 2 people smell or taste the same thing.
Once this empowerment takes place, we can then take the next steps discussed . . . but let’s take baby steps first . . .
Cheers!
Jeff,
Good post.
I wonder if there are technological limitations/obstacles to affordable aroma reference kits.
I’ve had the ~$100 aroma kit from a known internet purveyor of wine accessories. It sucked. It was dreadful. Most of the stuff either smelled like bad, old chapstick or was devoid of aroma (as if it had been produced with low QC standards or stored in a very hot place).
Larry,
Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment. I agree with you to a certain extent, but I’m not sure if we’ll ever get to an egalitarian wine culture in the states, so maybe the best we can hope for is trying to help ease people down the path comfortably.
Arthur,—agreed on your description relative to quality. No scent in a scent kit. The waxy program just didn’t work in application.
The reviews used to be savage on amazon.com, but I think they stopped using Amazon as a direct seller.
Thanks again, guys.
Your efforts to encourage more consumers to enjoy wine should be welcome by all.
I wonder if the need to discuss the components or flavors of wine are as neccessary as you think?
It seems to me that we know what we like, we know the circumstances that create memories and doing more of what brings pleasure will want us to repeat the experience.
Food and wine are not as complex as you suggest. Yes, many will put much time and effort into pairing, it does not make it better, just different. If it is as complex as suggested, then why bother? Or this is what leads to snob sentiment?
I live in Colorado and am an expert skier with with 35 years experience. I guarantee you that if you go to any Colorado ski area today or any day the majority of skiers are not experts, they are just having a blast being outside, enjoying Colorado and sliding down the mountain.
This is what the wine industry needs, more people simply clinking their glasses and enjoying food, friends and wine.
If wine becomes a hobby and studying aroma wheels and flavors is part of that, great. My problem with the entire conversation being directed this way, is most people do not connect with this conversation and feel stupid or lost because they cannot smell or taste as someone else.
I did visit a very cool aroma room at the Big Picture in Central Otago once and was amazed at the experience. Very fun.
Thanks for letting me speak.
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Jeff, you are on to something here, in terms of the need for a better way to encourage the progress of wine newbies, but I would suggest that aroma wheels and smell kits are not the answer. Focusing on “senses” IMHO makes little sense. Why? A) It takes considerable time to develop a palate, and B) we are all so different in terms of sensory perceptions and expression thereof, that pursuing that angle becomes frustrating and fruitless.
A better alternative, I think, is stressing four things:
1) wine is better with food
2) wine is best understood by style (rather than organoleptics)
3) wine is personal, but easily shared, kind of like the music on your iPod.
4) pay zero attention to wine ratings, and lots of attention to a good retailer or mentor
Those are my four cents for now. Good topic. I am sorry I missed the WMC presentation in NYC but am looking forward to hearing John G. present at the Wine Writers Symposium in Napa in Feb.