What’s Your Wine’s Story? From 19 Crimes to 1000 Stories

March 12, 2024 By in The Next Big Thing, wine, wine brands, wine markets 4 Comments

“What Young Wine Drinkers Want” is the title of a recent Financial Times article by Hannah Crosbie, one of several recent reports probing the priorities and buying habits of younger consumers. Taken together, they give anyone concerned about the future of the wine industry a lot to think about. Compared to the baby boomers who drove the wine industry for many years, younger consumers differ greatly in terms of their economic situation, communications preferences, relationship to alcohol, and much else.

The Changing Nature of “Story Wines”

One common theme is that younger consumers want more than something to eat or drink. They want products that tell a story that they can pass on to their friends and make part of their own story, too, in one way or another. Wine is good, but wine and a story about the wine are much better.

To be fair, the story element of wine purchases is not new, it is mainly that the importance has increased and the type of story has changed. First-person stories of visiting wineries and meeting winemakers are powerful, for example. I have some boomer friends who like to tell some version of a numbers story. Sometimes it is about how much the wine cost and sometimes it is about how little they paid (hello, Two Buck Chuck). Often it is about critics’ ratings. These stories intersect with various identities ranging from aspirational to reverse snobbery.

I am sure that these stories resonate with many younger consumers, but recent articles suggest that today’s consumers are looking for narratives that better connect to their identities. So story-telling, which has always been important in wine, is even more critical today.

Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges

One of the most-read articles in Wine Economist history is a 2018 column about 19 Crimes wine, “Outlaw Wine? 19 Crimes Succeeds by Breaking All the Wine Marketing Rules.”   The article argues that there is no particular reason 19 Crime, which started as a brand featuring rather unfashionable Australian Shiraz, would have become a hit, especially with younger consumers. The key, I wrote, is the “outlaw” backstory, which resonated with many young male consumers.

19 Crimes is still a storied wine, but the story has shifted a bit since that column first appeared. Now it is also a celebrity story wine, with labels that feature Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart. “Every bottle tells a story,” the wine’s website proclaims along with the outlaw motto, “It’s good to be bad.” And every bottle does tell a story via augmented reality technology. Just download the app and scan the label. Talk about a story wine.

One Thousand Stories

Sue and I recently took part in an online tasting of wines from a winery that has so completely embraced story-telling that it is even in its name: 1000 Stories wine. 1000 Stories is a line of California appellation wines produced by Fetzer/Bonterra, which is part of the multinational Concha y Toro wine group.

The name draws directly from the interest in story-telling. We all have stories, according to the website, and we want to add stories and share stories. Every bottle tells a story, too. The mood is upbeat compared with the darker 19 Crimes vibe, but wine as part of your identity theme is still there.

This umbrella story is supplemented by several (but not necessarily a thousand) supporting stories. 1000 Stories claims the title of the first bourbon barrel-finished wine (there are now several of these on the shelves). Used bourbon barrels are toasted and used to finish the wines. Since these barrels come from different distilleries and have different characteristics, each batch of wine is a bit different (that is, it tells a different story of its origins). In a world of homogeneous commodities, this will be a story that will resonate with many.

The use of bourbon barrels is not traditional, but I don’t see a problem. I remember visiting Justino’s winery on Madeira, where used barrels are so important to the process. They were using a few used whiskey barrels in an exchange with a distillery that was using used Madeira barrels to add some complexity to its whiskey. I thought that was pretty interesting, so I can’t criticize bourbon barrels for Zinfandel if the results are worthwhile.

The Bison Story

Concha y Toro and all its subsidiaries are certified B Corporation businesses, so there is a subtle social and environmental responsibility story told by the “B Corp” logo on the back label.

The back label doesn’t mention the story behind the bison on the front label, which is kind of puzzling. What does a bison have to do with the 1000 Stories? The answer is a good story. 1000 Stories is working with a group called Yellowstone Forever to support bison conservation in Yellowstone National Park. Why not advertise these efforts more clearly on the wine bottle? I speculate that perhaps it is left to the informed wine drinker to share the story with friends. Word-of-mouth is the most effective way to get a story passed around.

Sue and I have been tasting through the 1000 Stories lineup. The Zinfandel is balanced and rounded by its 5 grams per liter of residual sugar, but not avoids being the sugar bomb that many wines that target younger drinkers have become. It was great with BBQ brisket. The Red Blend is an interesting mix of grape varieties including Teroldego, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, and Pinot Noir. It played nicely with a ham dinner.

I admit that I sort of wish that 1000 Stories really just focused on one story — it would make the wine’s story easier to tell. But I admit that people aren’t one-dimensional, so why should wines and their stories be monolithic.

I am not sure which of the many stories of 1000 Stories resonates with me, but then I doubt that I am the target audience. Pragmatically, what’s important for the wine industry is that wine brands pitch stories that connect with consumers, especially newbies who are looking for reasons to connect.

License to Steal 2024: Forging Best Practices in Wine Marketing

March 5, 2024 By in wine, wine education, wine markets 1 Comment

I will be in Syracuse, New York, next week to speak at License to Steal, a national wine marketing conference that is being held in conjunction with the Eastern Winery Exposition.

License to Steal? Well, it is all about wine industry people gathering to talk about their marketing experiences, encouraging each other to “steal” strategies that have worked as a way to grow the total market pie. This would be called “sharing best practices” in consultant-speak. It is a great idea whatever you call it and very important today when the wine industry faces many headwinds.

License to Steal is nearly 20 years old. It started when seven state association directors (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) got together. It is a national conference today, providing an important grassroots forum for wine marketing information.

Donniella Winchell, Executive Director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association and Conference Chair, describes License to Steal as “a place where wineries, growers, and ancillary entities willingly share, collaborate, and contribute to the future strength of the grape and wine communities across the nation. Sessions are lively, interactive, and led by some of the most exciting marketing minds in the business.”

I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Syracuse, learning as much as I can, and contributing a few ideas of my own, Here is the program agenda. Lots to talk about, think about, and plenty to steal, too.

Wednesday, March 13
8:15 – 9:15
Mike Veseth, The Wine Economist
Secrets of the World’s Most Respected Wine Regions
Wine economist Mike Veseth probes the world’s most respected wine regions to uncover the
secrets of their success and reveals how these secrets can be applied to wine regions around the
world.

9:25 – 9:55
Karen Thornton, AVA Program Manager
Avoiding AVA Petition Pitfalls
This presentation will help applicants move through their application with a minimum of
mistakes and resulting subsequent delays in the approval process.

9:55 – 10:10
Jim Trezize, President, WineAmerica
How WineAmerica represents your interests in Washington
Learn how this dynamic organization serves as a sounding board, represents your interests and
helps to protect the industry’s future as we deal with the coming pressures from the neo
prohibitionists, shipping issues, including the coming Farm Bill as is crafted in Congress.

10:10 – 10:25
Michael Kaiser, Vice President, Wine America
Legislative and Regulatory updates from Washington
An update from Washington on issues of concern to the American Wine industry including
Ingredient and Nutrition Labeling, Interstate shipping issues, and music licensing.

10:25 – 10:40 Coffee break

10:45 – 11:25
Ankita Okate, Chief Growth Officer, Beverage Trade Network | USATT
Using AI to take your winery into the techno future PRE-RECORDED
This topic encompasses the current impact of AI on the business, future AI trends, and
opportunities, preparing for the AI revolution, personalized recommendations, predicting market
demand and consumer preferences, quality control, compliance with regulations, enhancing the
sensory experience, sustainability, inventory management, and the future of the industry.

11:25- noon
Steal Session – Identifying New “on-ramps” For Our Industry
As boomers age and the Z generation’s affinity for RTDs and bourbon is ever-growing, we need
to find new ways to build new ‘on ramps’ to maintain the vitality of our industry

Lunch and visit the trade show

2:30 – 3:15
Maureen Ballatori, 29 Design Studio
Algorithms Reward Accounts That Share Videos
As social media moves more and more toward entertainment, algorithms reward accounts that
share videos. Video content tends to receive more impressions and a wider reach. In this session,
we’ll go beyond the basics to look at what truly moves the needle on social media.

3:15 – 3:30
Roger Brooks – Destination International – video PRE-RECORDED
Words that work
As marketing programs are designed, using the ‘correct’ words will provide the foundation for
success.

3:40 – 4:20
Clint Bradley, the Bradley group
New Customer Experiences & Inter-Generational Connections
What’s Old is New will focus on opportunities for the wine industry to capitalize on current
societal and demographic trends. Hint: it’s about creating new customer experiences and
building intergenerational connections by introducing young people to wine in ways that touch all
the 5 senses.

4:20 – 4:40
Steal Session
Refreshing Events: Festivals, Trails, Dinners, Wine & Food Pairings
As wine festivals and events are experiencing diminishing attendance numbers, we will explore
new ideas and approaches to rebuild and re-imagine these marketing tools.

Thursday, March 14
8:20 – 9:20
Chris Puppione, Regional Account Manager for Coravin
Part 1 of a 2-part workshop
What I Talk About When I Talk About Tasting Rooms
Welcome to the modern world of hospitality, where customer loyalty is not good enough; we
must dedicate ourselves to transforming those we serve into passionate advocates. In an era when
the bar for hospitality in tasting rooms is set painfully low and satisfaction will not suffice, we
must redefine the game. We will discuss the power of listening, creating unforgettable moments that elevate experiences, and how to make it effortless for your customers to love your brand

9:30 – 10:30 –
Chris Puppione
Part 2 of a workshop
By mastering the art of influence, rapport-building, and storytelling, learn how to fulfill your
guests’ core needs while fostering a sense of belonging, status, and self-fulfillment. We will
discuss impactful ideas that help keep things fresh in developing exclusive experiences and will
make everyone want to be a part of your tribe. In this session, we will explore our current
hospitality economy and discuss how you can be the answer to building lasting cultures where
teams and customers stay for years, making it stunningly simple to get it right.

10:30 – 10:40 Coffee break

10:45 – 11:45 Bennett Caplan, FIVS and FIVAS Adbridge
What Does “No Safe Level” Or “NSL” View Of Alcohol Mean For The Wine Sector
There are those who are effectively reconceptualizing alcohol in terms of a view that any level of
alcohol consumption is associated with preventable diseases, such as cancer and heart disease.
What does this “no safe level” or “NSL” view of alcohol mean for the wine sector?

Lunch and visit the trade show

2:30 – 2:45
Steal Session: The WHO’s Wine as “Carcinogen” & the Neo-Prohibition Movement
Sharing ideas about the pressures from the re-emerging Neos: tactics, and potential action plans
to counter their efforts

2:45 – 3:30
Kathy Kelley, Penn State University, professor of Horticultural Marketing and Business
Management
Using Emotion to Engage and Build a Connection with Your Customers
Learn how to use emotion to enhance your customer relationship and improve your brand
commitment. Attendees will discover ways that positive feelings about a brand can significantly
impact consumer loyalty.

3:40 – 4:40
Roger Brooks
“Sell the Experience, not the Amenities” – video PRE-RECORDED
Research indicates that stories sharing engaging, interactive experiences will sell an attraction to
every generation while pretty, but mundane pictures of wine and tasting rooms will not sell them
effectively.

From Yellow Jersey to Blue Bin: Wine Bottle Innovation Steps Up

February 27, 2024 By in French Rabbit, wine, wine markets, wine research 6 Comments

Last week’s Wine Economist stressed the need to adapt to changing wine market conditions and to embrace innovations as part of that process. However, innovations are not always readily accepted (often rightly so). There is often the fear that change will simply ruin whatever good or service is being considered.

Curse of the Paperback Novel

The economist Paul Krugman likes to point to an innovation in the publishing industry that was initially met with fear and alarm. It will be the end of publishing and literature as we know it, critics said. What was the next big thing that got authors and publishers all worked up? No, it wasn’t the e-book, as you might guess. It was the paperback, which ended up vastly expanding the literature’s reach.

Paperbacks opened up a new world for book lovers. Packaging is one area where wine has embraced innovation, too, but slowly. Bag-in-box was once seen as only fit for inexpensive bottom-shelf wines, but now premium (which in this context means $4+ per bottle equivalent) 3-liter boxes are a hot commodity, one of the few growth categories in the U.S. market.

B-in-B and Beyond

Bag-in-box shows that wine packaging need not end with the traditional glass bottle, but how far can innovation go (without going too far)? My first glimpse of the possible future was back in 2007 when I wrote about two wines that were part of the Boisset portfolio back then. The innovation: extremely lightweight containers.

French Rabbit got my attention with its lightweight (40 grams for the 1-liter box) tetrapak container. The French Pinot Noir in the box was just fine and I liked the smaller sizes, too. Perfect for picnic, backpack, or boat. This kind of container is no longer unexpected, the innovation found its market, although the most recent sales data suggest that 1-liter boxes are not currently a growing category.

Le Tour de Vin

Boisset introduced me to another packaging innovation that did not catch on quickly: the plastic (or PET) bottle. The wine was a French Sauvignon Blanc brand called Yellow Jersey (a reference to the Tour de France leader’s signature shirt). The yellow bottle with a yellow label and screw-cap closure held a perfectly decent wine in its 56-gram container. A delightful bonus (which I did take advantage of) was that the empty bottle could be re-filled with water and then fit perfectly into a bicycle water bottle holder. What could be better? Seriously.

The idea of the PET wine bottle did not catch on, however, and it is easy to see why. Although it preserved the basic traditional wine bottle format, the lightweight turned some people off and many expressed concerns about the interaction between the wine and the bottle itself. I recently found a bottle producer with a PET product line and the recommended shelf life was 18 months. It was a brave (or forward-thinking) producer who took a chance putting wine in a bottle like that.

Enter changing attitudes and innovation. Lightweight wine bottles now have a broader following as environmental concerns have risen in importance and technology has advanced, too. I know of a couple of firms that are working on hybrid solutions that use lightweight PET for structure and a special internal coating to keep the wine from ever touching the PET itself. (This is similar in concept to the cans that hold canned wine, which have a liner to keep metal and wine from interacting.)

Blue Bin to Blue Bin

Blue Bin Wine from Ron Rubin Winery is the first of this next generation of wine bottles that I have seen on the market. The bottles, which are made by Amcor Rigid Packing, are made from rPET (recycled PET) and the bottles are themselves recyclable, but you put them in the plastics bin rather than the glass bin. The bottles are lined with Plasmax, a thin glass-like oxygen barrier. The Plasmax coating holds the wine, rPET holds the bottle, and everything is recyclable.

The shatterproof Blue Bin bottles weigh just 52 grams compared to 450 grams for a very lightweight glass bottle and 550 to 850 for standard glass bottles (the Wine Economist record for an empty wine bottle so far is 1218 grams). A full bottle of Blue Bin (812 grams on Sue’s precision scale) weighs less than many empty glass bottles.

It is easy to see the weight savings from adopting lighter-weight bottles, and there are additional advantages from efficient recycling. Recycled materials are used to make the bottles and the used bottle is easily recyclable, too. As you can see from the photo above, Blue Bin’s label doesn’t hide the recycling story behind this innovative wine.

The wine’s name comes from the ubiquitous blue recycle bins that Rubin and his team saw everywhere they looked in California. The material for the bottles comes from blue bins and that’s where the empty bottles go, too.

Ron Rubin is also the driving force behind River Road Family Vineyards and Winery in Sebastapol (certified sustainable and B Corp and recently recognized by Sonoma CountyWinegrowers for their commitment to sustainability ) and that’s where the wines (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Rosé) come from.  Initial distribution is targeted at California, Texas, and Florida plus through the winey website.

How was the wine? Sue and I opened a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc at our annual Open That Bottle Night gathering. The bottle itself was the main topic of conversation. It was so different from any of the others on the table. But while we talked about the bottle, the wine in our glasses steadily disappeared. The consensus was that the wine showed well, especially considering its very reasonable price point (about $13-$15 depending on where you buy it).

Who will buy a wine like Blue Bin? Well, as with Yellow Jersey a few years ago, there are niche markets that will be attracted by the obvious utility of the lightweight and unbreakable bottles for outdoor activities of various sorts. Our tasting group thought that lots of wines and lots of occasions might be well suited to this packaging, with obvious environmental benefits.

But I think there is another audience that will be attracted to the environmental benefits as well as the convenience factor. Restaurant wine-by-the-glass programs might be interested in the easy recycling element. Fine wine? I don’t see DRC and Screaming Eagle in a bottle like this for now. But wine drinkers, especially younger people concerned about the impact of consumption choices on the environment, just might find Blue Bin irresistible.

Blue Bin wines are a big step in the right direction for wine innovation. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

Stalin, Machiavelli, and Nutritional Labels for Wine

February 13, 2024 By in health, wine, wine markets 4 Comments

If you want to start an argument among wine industry people, bring up the issue of nutritional labeling. Should wine labels provide consumers with the same kind of nutritional information and ingredient lists as found on most other food and drink items? Stand back!

The Soviet System

There is an old joke that everything in Stalin’s Soviet Union was either mandatory or forbidden and sometimes it seems like that’s the logic behind wine label regulations.

All wines in the U.S. market already have some required information on the label, but thi smainly  takes the form of warnings. Beware of alcohol! This product contains sulfites (without any explanation of what this is and why it might be a useful thing).  Negative labeling is required, but FDA-standard nutritional information is not.

Some wineries already provide nutritional information. Some do it because they believe consumers seek transparency in wine as in the other products they buy. Some do it to differentiate their products.

Stella Rosa wines, which are incredibly popular, are the exception to the rule. They do have nutritional labels and they are required to have it. Stella Rosa wines have alcohol levels so low that they are regulated as both wine and also food. The back label of a Stella Rosa wine bottle is a glimpse of the future whether you like it or not. Note that the Stella Rosa label shown here includes sulfites in the list of ingredients, but it also explains its antibacterial function.

A Lot to Learn about Labels

Machiavelli advises us to do willingly that which we will otherwise be compelled to do. Although I don’t accept this as a universal rule, it pretty much sums up my position on the issue of nutritional labeling of wine here in the United States.

The program committee of the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium seems to have embraced the inevitability of wine labeling regulations. There were several sessions devoted to label regulations including the two I have reproduced below. Read the descriptions to get an idea of the topic and issues that were discussed.

Prepping for Nutrient and Ingredient Labeling.  The EU is changing its laws to require labels on all wines sold there to have nutritional and ingredient information. The US is exploring this option and potentially will follow suit in several years. What does this mean for you in terms of how you make wines and how you will need to label them?

This session will explore actual EU requirements and some recommended practices to best describe and comply with these regulations. We will also discuss managing your ingredient list and nutritional levels and how to message this information to your customers. Some people have already been doing this for decades and we will discuss their reasons for why they were early adapters and why and how they have managed this through winemaking and messaging over time.

and

Labeling Requirements and Regulations. Join us for a two-part comprehensive session on labeling regulations and requirements in the wine industry. The first part of this session will focus on the intricacies of the California Bottle Bill, featuring insights from industry experts and regulators. The second part of this session will explore proposed and anticipated changes in federal labeling regulations and strategies for addressing these changes. Our panel of distinguished speakers will provide valuable insights, and you will leave with a clear understanding of upcoming changes and compliance deadlines.

My Machivellian view is that it is better to accept that the labels are coming (and are already here in the European Union) and try to shape them to best suit both consumer and producer needs rather than to fight an all-or-nothing losing battle. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t problems with labeling requirements.

Forest vs Trees

My issues with nutritional labels go beyond the wine category. I am a label reader. I want to know what’s in my food and drink and where it came from. But in the process of atomizing products into their parts, I think we have missed something important, which is a focus on the whole. Individual properties are important, especially to people with specific health issues, but the overall characteristics of foods and diets more generally are important, too. And the forest gets lost when we focus so tightly on trees.

This was not always the case. One of the factors that drove wine’s Golden Age, for example, was the French Paradox, which argued that wine was a vital part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. A healthy diet, like a good wine, is about balance.

You might not be able to exactly say that wine was good for you, but like this Wine Spectator cover, you could argue that a diet that includes moderate wine consumption is healthy for many people.

Two cheers for nutritional labels for wine. They are coming and we need to make the best of the situation. Many consumers will find that wine isn’t as unhealthy as they think. But there is much off-label work to do to get wine’s positive message back on the public radar screen.

The Road Ahead: Lessons from the Unified Symposium

February 6, 2024 By in economic crisis, Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, wine, wine markets 7 Comments

What’s the state of the wine industry? Here are four observations inspired by things I learned at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium‘s State of the Industry session and in hallway conversations. The theme, if there is one, is a spin on Robert Frost’s poem about the road not taken. The industry needs to choose a direction. Follow the well-trodden path that got us where we are or break away? Frost thought the choice was significant. What do you think?

One: The wine industry has a problem. But it isn’t just wine’s problem.

Everyone knows that the volume of wine sold has declined in recent years, which is a serious problem for many people in the wine value chain. Not every category has suffered equally and there are a few areas of growth. The picture improves a little if we look at the value of wine sold, but this mainly highlights segments where increases in average price have outpaced declining volume.

For many years the industry was built on an expectation of continued growth and it is difficult to re-gear for a declining market with high inventories from previous vintages that cloud prospects for the near future.

Some people were shocked when Jeff Bitter, President of Allied Grape Growers, called for the quick removal of 30,000 net acres of vineyards in California in order to bring supply into line with demand.  Jeff has been saying this for several years and I think his message is finally starting to sink in.

What’s behind the headwinds blowing against the wine industry? We used to blame spirits and craft beer. The story was that consumers were shifting to beer and cocktails in preference to wine. But that’s not true in general today. Both beer and spirits have falling overall demand, too.

Wine’s problem is not just a wine problem, it is a beverage alcohol problem. The situation is so bad that even once-hot tequila is cooling off. The Financial Times recently reported that some agave farmers in Mexico are balking at requests to replant for another harvest cycle. Maybe demand will be there when the plants mature. But maybe not, especially if U.S. demand tumbles (markets in other countries are not large enough to absorb a big U.S. surplus).

Two: We are not alone.

OIV data show that global consumption has fallen after a decade of stagnation. The soft wine market is just about everywhere you look, but especially noteworthy in the U.S. and China. I highlight the U.S. because it is the world’s largest consumer of wine (and still, many would argue, the best market around because American wine declines are relatively small compared to some others).

China? Well, that’s my own addition to the list. Chinese wine consumption increased dramatically before the pandemic struck and many imagined that its growth would be enough to offset declining sales elsewhere.

But then came covid, which crippled critical on-premise sales in China, and then the trade wars and tensions that have followed. The Chinese market is opening up again now (Australia has its fingers crossed that Aussie wine will be granted favorable access to China soon), but the market there has changed, and lost its dynamism. China after covid is not the growth market for wine that some counted on. It’s a small world after all and wine’s share of it has shrunk.

Three: The prisoners’ dilemma.

It is one thing to say that the wine industry needs to become smaller, more efficient, and more profitable (and it does!), but how do you do that when there are thousands of growers and wineries each protecting their own interests?  There is an element of the prisoners’ dilemma problem here. Collectively, the ideal strategy would be for many winegrowers to reduce vine acreage and take surplus grapes off the market. That would help everyone gain some control over margins.

But collective interests and individual incentives aren’t aligned. If everyone else is going to pull up their unprofitable vineyards, then it is in my interest to keep vines in the ground and gain from the higher prices while they suffer from smaller production. The private incentive encourages everyone to keep production high and the problem continues.

How do you overcome the prisoners’ dilemma created by this conflict of collective versus individual interests? Well, one solution is to play and replay the game over and over until the participants learn that cooperation is a better solution (even then, the “defect” strategy is always a problem). Or some sort of collective action mechanism can be employed, which is one of the things that the Spanish industry’s strategic plan hopes to achieve.

Four: A tale of two futures.

Susana Garcia Dolla, the director general of Spain’s broadest wine industry organization, framed the question in terms of two cycles, one a vicious cycle that reduces the wine industry through crisis and shake-out, and another, a virtuous cycle, that moves ahead toward sustainable profit by design.

Lots of forces will shape the wine industry’s future and it is impossible to expect any predictions to bear up over time. That said, it seems to me that the facts above suggest that we have reached a fork in the road and need to take the right path.

One road leads … well, it leads nowhere in terms of the future of wine. And it seems like the road we are on right now. This road blames consumers for the soft market and fails to confront over-supply in any coordinated way. The industry will lurch along until a critical point comes along, forcing action.

The other road leads to a smaller, more efficient, and profitable wine industry through timely and intentional actions.  The process is painful but follows Machiavelli’s advice to give the bad news all at once and the good news a little at a time. Which road will be taken for wine? And what’s the road not taken?

The Case for Cautious Optimism about the Future of Wine

January 30, 2024 By in economic crisis, Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, wine, wine markets 4 Comments

Sue and I have just returned from the 30th edition of the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento. The Unified is the largest wine industry gathering in the Western Hemisphere with about 12,000 attendees over three days and 900 trade show exhibitors. If you want to take the pulse of the American wine industry, this is the place to go.

So how is the industry’s health? Well, if you go by the economic indicators such as sales trends (more about this next week), the patient is in bad shape.  There was bad news in the wine press and the expectation that more bad news was coming (it did).

Economic Pessimism

The situation reminded me of an essay called “The Economic Possibilities of Our Grandchildren” that the English economist John Maynard Keynes wrote in the depths of the Great Depression. “We are suffering just now from a bad attack of economic pessimism,” the essay began. “It is common to hear people say that the epoch of enormous economic progress … is over; that the rapid improvement in the standard of life is now going to slow down …

“I believe that this is a wildly mistaken interpretation of what is happening to us. We are suffering not from the rheumatics of old age, but from the growing pains of over-rapid changes, from the painfulness of readjustment from one economic period to another.”

I quote these lines here because I think that we are today also suffering from an attack of economic pessimism, both in the wine industry and more generally. We tend to look down and to look back, not ahead, and we avert our eyes from good news (about inflation or unemployment or, occasionally, politics) when it unexpectedly appears.

The only bright lights we allow ourselves to see (the Barbie movie, Taylor Swift) are ridiculously popular because of their novelty and scarcity. We look like the drab men and women of Keynes’s day. How sad.

I am part of this environment, of course, and because I am an economist and therefore a licensed deliverer of bad news, I am also part of the problem. I expected to meet a pessimistic wine industry at the Unified Symposium and that’s what I found. But only at first.

Cautious Optimism

Gloom and doom. But then in casual conversations Sue and I discovered a streak of cautious optimism that we didn’t expect. A friend we met at the registration counter who is involved in winery recruiting said she felt that hiring had turned a corner. Another friend who works in bottle closures was optimistic, too. He accepted the current problems but saw a path forward and was moving with confidence. This was not the first crisis he’d seen and he didn’t think it would be the last. Talking with him was a moment of quiet inspiration.

One winery owner was frustrated by all the bad news in the air because she worried about self-fulfilling prophecies. If we think the future will be dark and act accordingly then it will indeed be dark. Someone must turn on a light or at least acknowledge that the light switch is still on the wall.

Sue was working the trade show floor while I was moderating the State of the Industry session. She reported that it seemed like lots of business was getting done. There was a record number of trade show exhibitors and thousands of people in the aisles shopping for equipment and services or checking out what’s new. It was not a dismal scene, she told me. And it was still buzzing when I got there a couple of hours later after the press conference, even though a lot of people were at lunch.

Don’t Look Back!

What should we make of this uncomfortable combination of bad news and hopeful sentiments? In my remarks to the State of the Industry audience, I invoked the great American philosopher (and baseball pitcher) Satchel Paige, who warned, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”

How you see the future depends upon how you look at the past, which is your reference point. And that’s a dangerous thing because the past can be different depending upon your viewpoint.

If you look at today’s wine industry from the viewpoint of 2008 (as I discussed in last week’s Wine Economist), then you can’t help but be disappointed. The continued rapid growth that the industry expected then has failed to materialize in general. However, there are obvious market segments (thank you, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc) that have grown beyond expectations.

But if instead, you look back 30 years, to the very first Unified Symposium, then your perspective is quite different. Seen from 1994, the wine market of 2024 is almost unimaginably prosperous. Wine has grown in every dimension: quantity, value, quality, number of producers and brands, global reach. It’s not where we thought we’d be back in 2008, but it is pretty damned amazing from the 1990s perspective.

The fact that the wine industry today is somewhere between the smaller market that they expected in 1994 and the much bigger one projected in 2008 should give us pause. There is a path forward from here; it is not without costs, challenges, and risk, but it is there for those who take it.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not denying the seriousness of the problems wine faces. Remember that I’ve been the frequent bearer of bad news for several years now. But cautious optimism is justified. The road ahead? Come back next week for more thoughts.

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Come back next week for more about what we learned at the Unified Symposium. In the meantime, follow this link for a pdf of Keynes’s essay.

A Look Back at the Future of Wine

January 23, 2024 By in Future Wine Project, Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, wine, wine markets Leave a comment

The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, North America’s largest wine industry conference and trade show, is happening this week in Sacramento, California. It is an exciting event where people from throughout the industry (and around the world) gather to share concerns and ideas about the challenges facing wine today.

Questions about the future of wine are never far below the surface of these discussions, which perhaps might explain why, in the run-up to the Unified, a very old Wine Economist column has suddenly started to get more clicks. The column was called “The Future of Wine” and it appeared in 2008 when The Wine Economist was in its first year as an online newsletter.

I am republishing “The Future of Wine?” now not because it got everything right, but rather because it illustrates how much recent events weigh on our vision of the road ahead and how hard it is to guess the future.

Please read all the way to the end if you have time because I think Kenneth Boulding’s point cited there is worth considering now and always. Come back next week when I will get out the crystal ball once again and speculate about the future of wine in the context of what I hear and see at this year’s Unified Symposium.

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Wine Economist “The Future of Wine?” May 25, 2008

What will the world of wine look like in 50 years? A look in the crystal ball.

What if the Chinese were French?

A journalist with a Brazilian newsweekly called me on Thursday to ask for help with a story on China. The magazine is doing a sort of “worst case scenario” report on the potential impact of China’s economic growth on world markets. What would happen to oil prices, for example, if the Chinese used as much fuel per capita as Americans do? Yikes, that would be a lot of drivers using a lot of gas and it would send oil prices through the roof. What would happen if Chinese consumers generated as much waste and pollution per person as people in the West? Once again, the global effects would be dramatic.

What would happen, the journalist asked me, if Chinese tastes changed and they drank as much wine per capita as the current world champtions, the French? Well, that is a very interesting question, even if it isn’t a very realistic one. Annual Chinese consumption of wine is about a half-liter per capita and rising, according to my copy of The Global Wine Statistical Compendium (and a lot of that wine isn’t grape wine, as I wrote in The China Wine Syndrome). Wine consumption in France, on the other hand, is 55 liters per person and falling (it was more than 120 liters per capita in the early 1960s). The figure is about 8.5 liters per capita for the U.S. and 20 liters per capita for Great Britain.

It is hard to imagine how Chinese wine consumption could rise to the current French level. Heck, it is unlikely that the French will sustain their current level for long. But isn’t entirely out of the question that Chinese consumpion could rise to the world average, which is about 3.5 liters per capita per year. That’s a lot smaller increase than the Brazillian reporter was concerned with, but it would still have a huge impact on global wine markets. Much of the increase would probably be met by higher Chinese production; China is already a major wine producer — smaller than Chile but larger than Portugal in total production. But the global effects would be substantial and prices would surely rise.

We can already see some indication of the potential “China Effect” in the market for fine wine. Everyone seems to think that at least some of the rise in Bordeaux prices in recent years is due to Asian and especially Chinese purchases. This trend seems likely to accelerate now that Hong Kong has eliminated its high tax on wine transactions so that it can become the auction hub of the Asian wine market. The latest Wine Advocate reports prices of 2005 Bordeaux that reach stratospheric levels — $500, $1500, $2500 per bottle! This is what happens when a global market focuses on an object of speculation — huge rents (excess returns) are created. As China (and India, too) become more completely integrated into global markets for products like fine wine, these rents will likely rise higher still.

The View from London

The Brazilians are not the only ones interested in the future of wine. Berry Bros. & Rudd (BBR), the London fine wine house, recently celebrated its 310th anniversary with the release of the Future of Wine Report written by four of their top wine buyers (Alun Griffiths MW, Jasper Morris MW, Simon Field MW and David Berry Green). It makes pretty interesting reading if you are interested in what wine markets might look like in 2058.

I say wine markets (plural) because BBR correctly recognizes that there is not one wine market but many interrelated ones. The fine wine market, BBR predicts, will see the rise of China and India as important factors in terms of both demand and supply. “I absolutely think China will be a fine wine player rivalling the best wines from France,” writes Jasper Morris. Britain will become an important producer of fine wines, too, perhaps especially Champagne-like sparkers.

Wine prices will soar even higher, according to the report. “If values increase by 15% per annumn, as they have been doing recently, a case of 2005 Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, currently available for £9,200. could be worth just shy of £10 mllion by 2050,” according to Simon Staples.

The forecast changes are more dramatic in the volume wine market. China will be the world’s largest wine producer. Global warming will shift wine production from France to Eastern Europe and from Napa Valley to Canada. Australia, the report speculates, could see a collapse of its volume wine industry if recent droughts persist. Goodbye Yellow Tail. Hello boutique producers in cooler, wetter areas like Tasmania.

Brands will become even more important in the volume business, BBR suggest. “In 50 years, consumers will ask for wine by the brand name or flavour and won’t know, or care, where it has come from. Grapes will be genetically modified to change a wine’s taste,” according to Jasper Morris, “and producers will add artificial flavourings to create a style wanted by consumers.” Wait — OMG I think I drank those wines back in the 1970s when I was in grad school!

Bottles and corks? They’re history. Corks will disappear because they are inefficient — the contamination rate is too high. Bottles are heavy and environmentally problematic. Tetra pak containers (like the ones used in today’s French Rabbit wines) and other sustainable packaging systems will prevail for volume wine.

The Future of Wine?

So what should we think of these visions of the future of wine? Economists like to say that prediction is difficult, especially about the future, so long range forecasts need to be taken for the educated guesses that they are.

Some forecasts, will be wrong because they are more or less simple straight line extrapolations (How much wine would the Chinese drink if they were French? How much will fine wine costs if its price compounds at the current rate?). It seems to me that simple projections are usually wrong because they are sensitive to initial conditions. Who is to say if long term trends will match those of the recent past?

Some predictions, like the £10 million case of wine, are extreme, but others are probably too conservative. The wine world has a way of surprising us — who in 1958 would have predicted the importance of Chile and Argentina today or the decline of consumption and production in France? People matter, too. People and their ideas are powerful forces that do not always respect historical trends, as refelction on the recent death of Robert Mondavi remind us.

Kenneth Boulding, the great 20th Century social scientist, once wrote a history of the future. He looked back to see what people in the past had said about the world just ahead. What he learned, he told me, was that when the future eventually rolled around, it never matched the predictions, it was always unexpected. The best way to prepare for the future, he concluded, was to prepare to be surprised. I expect this rather general advice applies as well to wine.

The “Uncork Ontario” Regional Wine Cluster Strategy

January 16, 2024 By in Canada, economic crisis, Economic impact, wine, wine markets 7 Comments

Although the U.S. economy performed surprisingly well in 2023, the wine business news columns were filled with gloom and doom as wine demand lagged behind the growth needed to sustain the industry. The problems affected the wine sector at all levels, but were most obvious in the vineyards. I’ve heard reports from all aroound the world of vineyards simply abandoned for lack of a market for the grapes or grubbed up and repurposed to a more profitable use.

2023 was a bad year for wine, but that’s not the whole story. Stagnant and falling demand has been here for more than ten years. And wine isn’t alone. I track the beer and luxury goods industries because I think they can tell us something about trends affecting wine. Beer is down, too. And all but the very top of the luxury goods market is suddenly stalled after a prosperous pandemic period.

There is one corner of the wine world where optimism can be found, however. Not the giddy optimism that comes when you don’t really appreciate how challenging conditions are, but the realistic optimism that comes when you have studied the problems and devised a plan to turn things around. Where is this magical place? Welcome to Ontario, Canada, and the dynamic Niagara wine region.

Uncork Ontario

The Canadian wine industry is concentrated in Ontario and British Columbia and has not been immune to the economic problems (declining demand) and natural crises (widespread wildfire damage in British Columbia) that face winegrowers all over the world. Significantly, they have decided that they need to try to take control of the situation to the extent possible. The result is a strategic plan called Uncork Ontario that is designed not just to stabilize the wine sector but to harness it into an engine of economic growth.

The first step in this process seems to have been the recognition that the various players could not achieve much on their own. They needed to work together to get traction. So an alliance of sorts was formed that combines Ontario Craft Wineries, an association of about 100 small- and medium-size wineries, and Wine Growers of Ontario, a broad group that includes some of the largest wineries, including the producers of that distinctive Canada product, IDB wine (for International-Domestic Blend).

This kind of alliance is not common because, while all the firms are in the same business and so share many broad interests, they often focus more on narrow strategies such as taking market share from each other instead of growing the overall market pie. Add to this the usual tension between larger firms that focus on commercial products versus smaller firms that want to see resources used to support their part of the market, and you can see why cooperation can be very hard to achieve.

The third partner is the Tourism Partnership of Niagara because wine tourism is an important economic force in a region located so close to major population centers in both Canada and the U.S. Tourism and wine are best friends, but cooperation is often limited because each group would prefer to focus on its narrow interests. An important informal fourth partner was soon enlisted, as I will explain below.

The Wine Industry Eco-system

Knowledge is power, so Team Ontario contracted with consultant Deloitte to produce a report titled “The Niagara Cluster: Ontario’s Untapped Economic Engine.”  The Niagara Cluster? Let me explain.

The Deloitte report uses an analytical framework made famous by Harvard economist Michael Porter, author of many books including Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Prof. Porter’s key insight, which he developed by studying highly successful industries worldwide, was that successful firms don’t exist in a vacuum.

The greatest success is achieved when key firms are surrounded by effective supporting industries; have access to skilled talent, advanced research, and high-quality resources; face intense competition; and  must satisfy demanding customers. When conditions are right, the whole cluster grows as competition drives it ahead. Take away important factors, however, and things fall apart.

I like to think about Porter’s clusters as eco-systems (which is a term the Deloitte report also uses) and I am a fan of this kind of strategic analysis. (The Wine Economist reported on the Porter-style cluster analysis of the Walla Walla wine cluster in 2014.)

Strategic Partnerships

The Deloitte report makes interesting reading for anyone in the wine business for several reasons. First, it uses Porter’s analytical framework to break down the key elements of successful wine industry clusters. Second, it identifies “best practices” for each element, so there are specific targets to shoot for. Third, it frames the growth goals of the wine sector not in narrow terms (sell more wine!) but in terms of the broader economic impact on the communities involved. All of this is relevant to any wine region.

Two additional factors struck me as particularly important. First, the study doesn’t set an unrealistic goal such as “become the next Napa Valley” as sometimes happens. No, the report proposes that the Niagara region aims to be as important in its wine market (Ontario) as the Okanagan Valley wineries centered in Kelowna are to their region (British Columbia). The economic impact of such a development is large, both for wine and more generally.

But, the report found, one more partner was needed: the government. Ontario tax and regulation regimes discouraged the wine industry’s growth. That needed to change and, what’s more, the “best practices” model calls for the government to take an active role in promoting industry growth.

Time Has Come Today?

Incredibly, the provincial government seems to have heard this message and, although the situation is complicated and it is still early days, it looks like changes are coming, initially to the retail sales and taxation regimes. The introduction of retail competition is a major change and will really shake things up. The powerful Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) will retain its monopoly on spirits sales,  but open up competition for beer and wine. It won’t happen overnight, but the biggest market reforms since the end of Prohibition are on their way.

I need to learn more about what’s going on, so I will be heading to Niagara later this year to speak at the Ontario Craft Winery Conference. I am sure there is much more to the story and I may have made mistakes fitting the pieces together. But one thing is clear: even with all the gloom and doom in the wine sector, it is possible to make the case for growth.

But it doesn’t just happen. Everyone’s got to work together. And that’s hard. Ontario’s journey is just beginning, but they are off to a good start.

Argentina Wine, Economy, and the Chimera Effect

January 9, 2024 By in Argentina, economic crisis 2 Comments

Sue and I spent a pleasant week last month tasting our way through a group of very interesting wines provided by  Wines of Argentina (see the wine menu below). We scheduled the last of the wines, the Achaval Ferrer Quimera to taste with a meal of smoked brisket and roast vegetables on December 13. We were looking forward to the wine because of our great memories of visiting the winery on our first trip to Mendoza.

We awoke on December 13 to find that the Quimera tasting had taken on a broader meeting. After the markets closed the previous night, Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, had taken a dramatic first step in his “shock therapy” treatment of the Argentine economy, cutting the official value of the peso in half over-night and doubling, in effect, the cost of any imported goods priced in dollars.

The Chimera Effect

Chimera (or Quimera in Spanish) has more than one meeting. Chimera can be a mythical creature that combines parts of several different animals in unexpected ways  (Americans might think jackalope, I suppose). Or it can refer to a mystical illusion of some sort, which hides a different reality. Mythical? Or mystical? That’s the Chimera effect.

Achaval Ferrer’s Quimera wine was inspired by mythical beasts. It’s a blend of wines from three very different vineyard places. Terroir, we learned on that trip, is very important in Argentina wine, especially the difference between higher- and lower-elevation sites. It is probably just my imagination, but seem to believe that this effect is magnified when older vines are involved. Probably a Chimera!

First, we tasted the barrel samples of the wines from each of the three different vineyards and they were very different indeed! And then we re-created the final blend and finally the finished bottled wine. It was quite an experience to have the Quimera wine come together in our glasses.

Economic Illusion

The economic policies of the new President, the  “anarcho-capitalist” economist Javier Milei, seem to be a combination of the two ideas of chimera, mythical and mystical. The terrible state of the Argentine economy is neither, however. Inflation is out of control, poverty is high and rising, and social tensions are even higher. The fact of the outsider Milei’s election is evidence of the political divisions that overwhelm the nation. Or at least this is how it looks from my long-distance vantage point.

Desperate measures have been employed in the past to try to hold things together. The most obvious symptom of this, to someone familiar with international finance, is the existence of multiple exchange rates. High inflation tends to push down a country’s currency value, which protects exports but increases the cost of imports. To try to avoid the higher import costs, which further fuel domestic inflation, Argentina’s previous government artificially propped up the peso (at high cost), creating a multiple exchange rate system. There was the official rate and then the unofficial rate, which was nearly half the dollar amount,

Exchange Rate Illusions

Then the government resorted to special limited-condition exchange rates to encourage specific activities or to  please particular interest groups. An exchange rate for agricultural goods, to encourage exports, for example. Another exchange rate for foreign tourists is to keep that industry going.  A very special exchange rate, I am told, for Argentines who traveled to see their national team win the FIFA World Cup last year! And finally, of course, a special exchange rate for wine exports, the Malbec peso. What was the peso worth? The answer was all of these exchange rates and none of them. What a chimera!

Multiple exchange rates, which are a Chimera in the mythical beat sense, give the illusion of competitiveness (the other kind of Chimera), but in general, they tend to create inefficiencies and uncertainty. No one who can avoid it is likely to use the peso under these circumstances. So Milei’s “radical” devaluation as noted in the headline above is more conventional than it might seem, lifting the veil and revealing reality.

When Sue and I first visited Argentina a dozen years ago, 100 pesos would buy about 5 U.S. dollars. Now 100 pesos buys about 12 U.S. cents at the official rate, and even less on the unofficial market even after the “shock therapy” evaluation.

Elementary, My Dear Watson

So what should we think about Argentina’s prospects? I am reminded of a comment from the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. In solving a problem, he said, test each logical theory and eliminate them one by one. When you are done whatever answer you have left, no matter how unlikely, is the solution. Logic and illogic combined — a chimera theory, don’t you think?

It seems to me that Argentina has explored all the possible solutions to its problems and opted, at this point, for the illogical remaining possibility. President Milei combines radical rhetoric and outrageous behavior (he wielded a chainsaw at rallies) with remarkably conventional economic policies (the basic outline of his radical economic plan can be found in the IMF playbook).

It is not clear what will happen now. Milei wone the election, so he was a popular candidate, but his political base as president is questionable and there is strong resistance and opposition. A general strike to protest his programs is planned for later this month.

I am not a fan of President Milei, but perhaps this is the only remaining way forward. Fingers crossed that the short-term pain and disruption lead to longer-term stability and growth.

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Here are the Argentina wines we tasted for this report. We were attracted to these wines because, while they all feature Malbec, Argentina’s signature grape variety, each takes the wine in a different direction. All the wines were excellent, and a common thread of lifted acidity was easy to appreciate, but there was no cookie-cutter effect. Very interesting!
A blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 45% Malbec, and 5% Casavecchia, a grape variety from Southern Italy that I didn’t know was grown in Argentina.  The balance of Cab Franc and Malbec plus the influence of high-elevation vineyards made this an elegant wine and at an affordable price point.
A blend of 45% Malbec + 18% Cabernet Franc + 18% Merlot + 19% Cabernet Sauvignon from three different vineyards. Grace and power are well balanced here. The Cab Franc and Merlot thoughtfully frame the Malbec and bring out bright notes.
A wine of place. One hundred percent Malbec from the Uco Valley vineyard. Pure Malbec intensity here. A different animal from the other wines.
A blend of 85% Malbec with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. You can sense the BDX sensibility here.

Adventures on the China-Spain Wine Trail

December 27, 2023 By in book reviews, China wine, Spain, wine 2 Comments

The Spanish edition of Cynthia Howson and Pierre Ly’s 2020 book Adventures on the China Wine Trail has just been published by Tolosa Wine Books.

Aventuras en la Ruta del Vino de China

Aventuras en la Ruta del Vino de China is a first-person account of the natural, social, political, and economic forces that shaped the Chinese wine industry and the people who made it all happen. I have always thought of it as the perfect complement to Suzanne Mustacichi’s 2015 best-seller Thirsty Dragon.

Why a Spanish edition of Adventures on the China Wine Trail?  I think part of it was personal, which aligns very well with the way that Howson and Ly tell the Chinese wine story. They met Spanish publisher Lluis Tolosa when they were all in China for the Gourmand International Awards ceremonies. He saw an opening for a book that would help Spanish readers understand the Chinese market and the forces driving wine there. Tolosa tells the story in his prologue to the Spanish edition.

Spanish Wine Goes to China

Spain is the third largest producer of wine in the world and is often the largest exporter by volume. Bulk wine sales to other European countries make up much of the trade. Spain ranks #4 on the China wine import table behind France, Chile, and Italy. (Australia ranked higher in this list before China imposed prohibitive tariffs on Aussie wine.)

Spanish producers were early entrants into China and have been key in the growth of that market.  Torres China, for example, was founded in 1997 and today imports into China and distributes more than 400 wines from 13 countries including, of course, the wine of Familia Torres but also a list of iconic brands from Spain and around the world.

The giant Spanish wine producer Felix Solis was another early entrant to the Chinese market.  It established the Shanghai Félix Solís Winery Corporation in 1998 and, if I can trust my memory, boldly built a facility to accommodate bulk wine imports that was an important factor in the expansion of Spanish wine in China.

Although the Chinese wine market has receded from the peaks of the pre-covid boom years, it remains an important opportunity for Spanish producers in a wine world where opportunities are not thick on the ground.

A Celebration of China and Spain

We wanted to celebrate the China-Spain wine trail with Cynthia and Pierre, but how? Their January 2024 book tour will include stops in many regions of Spain, including Rioja. Sue and I proposed a dinner pairing some Rioja wines we’ve been saving for a good occasion with a Chinese dinner. The pairing makes sense since the Rioja industry was jump-started by French winemakers looking for red wines to replace the Bordeaux wines that were lost to phylloxera. And, of course, China and Bordeaux have a longstanding friendship. Connect the dots and Rioja to China it is!

Pierre and Cynthia prepared some of their favorite dishes from their trips to China and opened a delightful Grace Vineyards traditional method Angelina Brut Reserve 100% Chardonnay sparkling wine from the 2009 vintage. Grace Vineyards is one of China’s top producers and its wines never disappoint.

Sue and I provided the Spanish connection with two Rioja wines: a Marques de Murrieta Finca Ygay Rioja Reserva and Ramon Bilbaos Mirto. We chose the wines to represent two sides of Rioja today. The Finca Ygay is a traditional blend of four grape varieties, with Tempranillo in the lead with 80 percent. The Mirto, on the other hand, is 100 percent Tempranillo.

When Sue and I visited Rioja a few years ago we found that some winemakers were excited to make 100% varietal Rioja wines while others favored a traditional approach. I don’t think we found a consensus in Rioja any more than you might find one in, say, Chianti today about the merits of 100% Sangiovese.

Both Rioja wines paired well with our Chinese meal. Sue likes the rounder Marques de Murrieta best with an eggplant dish and the more structured Ramon Bilbao Mirto with pork belly. The bright acidity of both wines made them easy to pair with the rich Chinese cuisine. It is easy to understand why Spanish wines like these would be popular in China. And Spanish consumers might want to experiment with Chinese-inspired tapas, for example, to match up with their fine wines. China and Spain. Mix and match!

Adventures on the Spain-China wine trail.

Pierre will be in Spain in January to promote the new book and to inform Spanish audiences about the development of the Chinese wine industry. There will be events at bookstores and universities, but the one that I wish I could attend will be at the Marques de Atrio winery.

Why is this particular event so interesting? Because the Spanish winery is owned by ChangYu Pioneer Wine Company, one of China’s most important producers. ChangYu saw the potential for Spanish wine in China and so acquired this historic winery.  The Spain-China wine trail is real and Aventuras en la Ruta del Vino de China is a perfect way to begin to understand it.