Years ago when I was lucky enough to be on the Kistler Mailing List (that was at that time the only way to secure some of the best Chardonnays in California!), I didn’t get too miffed when I was asked to purchase on bottle of Steve’s Pinot Noir for every three Dutton Ranch Chardonnays I bought. At the time I was not into Pinot Noirs, and certainly not impressed with his. But I went along with it just to get my Dutton Ranch!
Over time most wine producers saw that approach as good business, make them buy some of our less popular labels in order to get our good juice. So, as the wholesalers and importers found themselves with unpopular wines, they then turned to the retailers with that same approach. Since they were contractually obligated to purchase minimum amounts of the so so wines, they now use the same tactic throughout the distribution chain all the way to our local retain wine shops.
The local retailers, with the support of their wholesale suppliers, (free or cheap offerings on the less popular labels), now present these less desirable labels at local wine tastings, hence, controlling what wines the ultimate consumers are exposed to, and ultimately what wines they purchase.
Before this evolution occurred, I had friends in the wine trade. They lived for the next wine tasting, the opportunity to show of their extensive portfolio of wonderful wines. And there were so many new wines coming to market! From France, from Italy, from Spain, from Chile, Argentina, central Europe! Wow! Life was good. There were so many great wines to chose from, and so little time, as the saying goes.
But for many years I would go to local wine tastings and was poured $8 to $10 bottles of Pinot Gris, that tasted like poorly flavored colored water. I finally got to the point at tastings that I would not taste the Pinot Gris. It tasted like crap. Then, one day, years later, I got talked into trying a Pinot Gris from Northern Italy, not an inexpensive label. And, Wow! I likey!
So, what is my takeaway from this? How many other good or great wines have the wine producers, wholesalers, importers and retailers steered me away from tasting?
I go to a large national chain that touts the largest selection of wines and the best prices. I ask for suggestions. The suggestions are all winery direct recommendations. Are they good wines? Some of them, yes. Are they as great as suggested? No. I can find wines I much more prefer at lesser prices that come through the wholesale channels. But the profit margins for the retailer are so much higher pushing these winery direct wines. I get it.
I was invited by friends to attend one of the wine classes (educational, I am assured by the retailer) at this large chain location. Nice, seated facility, two wine glasses per person as opposed to the traditional one skimpy glass. So at least a step in the right direction. Also, an accompanying snack box, cheeses, nuts, olives, tasty, but not ideal palette cleansers. But a nice touch compared to other local tastings. I’m impressed!
The theme of this tasting is “Old World Wines”. Cool! We were poured French wines, four whites and four reds. Many were varieties of grape that were not my favorites, but they were decent wines to my experienced palette. One of the best wines of the group was not a wine the “Old World” was known for. But the idea here is to sell the winery direct juice.
The final two wines were both Bordeauxs, one left bank and one right bank. The presenter, a very knowledgeable sommelier, touted the wines from Bordeaux as some of the best wines in the world. And I totally agree that Bordeaux has provided me with many wonderful pours over the years. I like them so much I once named a boat of mine after them: Boardough!
So, after explaining to our tasting group how wonderful these wines were, the two wines poured, as representative of some of the best wines in the world, were in the $20 to $25 per bottle range. Now I’ve been drinking serious wines for over half my life and I can assure you of one thing, you don’t get much of a Bordeaux wine for under $50 a pop. These two wines were some of the worst wines I have ever put in my mouth.
Anyone with a single taste bud would certainly know that what the presenter said and what happened in their mouth was a major disconnect. To anyone unfamiliar with French Bordeauxs, they would never, ever put some of that stuff in a glass to consume.
And while the number of wine drinkers increased by 14 million between 2021 and 2022, overall wine consumption was down. And that increase could easily be attributed to immigration alone if you believe Trump’s numbers. What is it now? Billions?
But, still, the wine industry persists, pushing the so-so wines on unsuspecting consumers and telling them they are drinking good stuff.
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