Sue and I had a wonderful time at Vino 2015, the Italian Wine Week celebration in New York City. Besides speaking on the opening panel I was asked to write the Foreword for the conference program. The organizers have posted my essay on their blog. I will paste the first few paragraphs below. You can read the whole essay on the Vino 2015 website by clicking on this link. And here is a link to a story that emphasizes how my ideas about Brand Italy relate to Stevie Kim’s work at Vinitaly International. Enjoy!
BATALI’S LAW AND VINO 2015 ITALIAN WINE WEEK
The principle that I like to call “Batali’s Law” is named after Mario Batali, the American chef and restauranteur who has done so much to promote all things Italian here in the United States. Americans sometimes talk about “Italian food,” which we love, but Batali has said that there is no such thing as Italian food – there are only the many regional cuisines of Italy. And these can’t and shouldn’t be reduced to a single generic category. Anyone who has traveled to or lived in Italy knows that he is right about this and Batali has used his celebrity to open many eyes (and mouths) to the delicious diversity that Italy’s regions have to offer. Bravo, Mario!
Stated more generally, Batali’s Law is that complicated things are best understood and appreciated in complicated ways – by explicitly considering their many sides rather than trying to reduce them to some homogenized generality that conceals far more than it reveals. Batali’s Law seems especially relevant in today’s smartphone-equipped, web-enabled world where anyone with the least interest can drill down through the surface layer of any question to find a treasure trove of tasty detail. Batali’s Law isn’t an abstract concept, it is something that seems to guide us every day.
The organizers of Vino 2015 seem to have been guided by the principle behind Batali’s Law when they planned the Italian Wine Week and these seminars, panels and tasting will inform, delight and reward all who take part. The Vino 2015 program, which examines the many sides of Italian wines and the U.S. market, is Batali-esque (if that is a word) in its depth and detail. In this brief foreword I’ll touch on four topics inspired by the week’s scheduled events: the complicated U.S. market for Italian wine, the importance of Italian regional wine character, the power of Brand Italy and the expanding boundaries of the world of Italian wine. . . . (continued on the Vino 2015 website. You can read the whole essay here.)
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Thanks to the Italian Trade Commission for inviting me to speak at Vino 2015 and to write this essay. We enjoyed fine wine and great food at Vino 2015, but it was the people who made the trade and media gathering both memorable and effective. Look for more about Vino 2015 and Italian wine in my column next week.
Does Batali’s Law only apply to highly involved consumer’s?
I have witness my wineries in their attempt to “sell-place” confuse consumer’s. A very well made Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley, promoted their brand from the sub-appellation Green Valley and lost sales. In 2000 I was working with David Milligan former president of Chateau & Estate Wines, launching his own line of French Imports into the Southeastern US. We represented Chateau Renaud, a beautiful Macon wholesaling for $8.99 (distributor direct business model). Our distributors were only depleting 30 to 40 cases per month, which I believe was way under market potential. So I decided to change how we positioned the brand by taking “a step back” and selling it simply as a White Burgundy. Within 60 days depletion’s had increase to over 65 cases per month. By years end our Georgia Distributor was selling 70 to 100 cases per month. Now this one selling tactic can not be identify as the only cause for such growth.
Sometimes marketers confuse consumer’s in an attempt to differentiate their brand by using “industry-language”. Applying a broader message versus a narrow message depends on the demand-supply equation
Now I’m going to get some Neapolitan Pizza, not just pizza.
A brilliant post, Mike. Whatever you get involved in, from stamp collecting to 21st century classical music, history to boat building, you discover complexity. It seems at first you’ll never master it. Then you get used to to subject being complex, messy and accept it. Some people react by writing off large sections of a subject. Others eventually can’t communicate with people outside their field of interest because they use jargon. But some, as you suggested, continue “explicitly considering their many sides rather than trying to reduce them to some homogenized generality.”
And this complexity, properly appreciated, adds interest because there’s always more to learn about wine, or anything else.