Wine Wars - An Interesting Discussion Of The Current And Future States Of The Wine Industry

Below is an interesting video from the TVW.org program Well Read.  It is a program about wine literature and the first twenty minutes are dedicated to a book called 'Wine Wars' by Economist Mike Veseth.  It is a discussion of the main things that have shaped, and are shaping, the wine industry.

His three main sound bites / topics revolve around:

1) The Curse of the Blue Nun - this revolves around the Globalization of wine and the impact that Blue Nun has had on the wine market in general with cheaper and somewhat passable wine, but specifically how it has impacted the German wine market where Riesling has taken a beating as it is compared to Blue Nun.  This is a common indicator of inferior wine.

2) The Miracle of Two Buck Chuck - Trader Joe's in the US has produced this wine for many years at a price of $2 per bottle.  This wine is not considered to be overly inferior as compared to the Blue Nun example because the source is considered to be of higher quality.  So, in this case price drives a vision of quality but that can be borrowed from the seller.  People need confidence to make a purchase.

3) The Revenge of the Terriorists - this is about people who are dedicated to preserving 'somewhereness' of wine by keeping it simpler than it can be otherwise described. These are the wine purists and advocates who believe wine is about place, value, and taste (not necessarily in that order).  We count ourselves among this group.

They also discuss the Future of Wine Report which was done by some wine experts in the UK.  Their observations (to paraphrase) are as follows:

  • China will become the world's largest producer of wine
  • Climate change will dry up Napa and Australia
  • UK will be the Champagne champion of the world
  • Wine will become a branded good like other consumer good (i.e. Bud White and Bud Red)
  • All wine will be dumbed down to appeal to a mass market
Wine Wars seems like an interesting macro-economic book and the episode is an interesting watch, if not for the somewhat quirky host (seems like a nice-enough guy).  Give it a watch you'll see:

Click here to watch the video

Keep on tasting!

Chris & Shannon

PS - do let us know if this link dies.  They are charging for the DVD so it's life online could be short-lived.

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