Category:Wine trends

A fellow called MrWineGuy101 has posted a video at YouTube, featuring two animated characters discussing wine they need to sell to their restaurant and retail clients. It ?s so accurate that it ?s spooky. I have actually heard these conversations among wine distributors. Yes, part of it is exaggerated, but that ?s only because the rest of it isn ?t. And some of the language is a bit rough.

Ever wonder how grapes were harvested? Wonder no more. Hand-picking gets all the publicity, but modern wine making is farming, and farming means big equipment. The video is from chourmo46 at You Tube, and shows the 2007 harvest in the French region of Cahors. And one of those harvesters can cost as much as $200,000.

Charles Smith does two things with his wines, made in Washington state. They have clever, intelligent labels and names in the style of Randall Grahm like Kung Fu Girl Riesling and Eve (as in the Garden of Eden) Chardonnay. And they ?re well-made, honest wines that reflect where the grapes are from and not what the Wine Magazines say they should taste like.

?You have to be responsible to all of the people who drink wine who don ?t speak wine, ? says Smith. who was in Dallas last month to make the rounds of retailers and writers. ?And the No. 1 responsibility, whether it ?s a $10 wine or a $100 wine, is to make the best wine possible. ?

Which makes Smith the Wine Curmudgeon ?s kind of guy. More, after the jump:

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The answer, apparently, is yes, if a recent academic study is to be believed. Researchers at the Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute found that wineries, and in particular smaller and regional wineries, could benefit immensely from blog-driven publicity.

What ?s most interesting about the study (which apparently doesn ?t exist on-line, but is available in summary here) is that it came to what I think is the right conclusion despite some serious problems. Even the authors realize that, noting that it ?s almost impossible to get a handle on how many wine blogs exist.

It cites the Complete List of Wine Blogs at vinography.com. but that looks to be at least a year out of date. I ?m not on it and neither is DrinkLocalWine.com, and the Vinography list is also missing a half dozen or so quality and important wine blogs that I follow. The other authoritative list, at alawine.com, was last updated in January 2009, so it ?s not much help either.

More, after the jump:

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Yes, not exactly earth-shattering news for those of us who aren ?t in the restaurant business. But for those who are, Mike Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., has the study results:

Consumers would buy more wine in restaurants if wine cost less.

?Yes, I know, it seems like pretty common sense economics to me, too, ? says Lynn, who studied 270 wine lists from restaurants in several major cities in the U.S., using sales data supplied by a major U.S. alcohol distributor.

Says the report: ?All other things being equal, casual-dining restaurants seem to have downward-sloping demand curves, implying that their consumers are price sensitive and less apt to buy wines as the price per bottle increases. As a result, casual-dining restaurants may boost wine sales by offering a greater number of lower cost wines. ?

More, after the jump:

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