Once again, the WC must help the Mainstream Media figure out this wine thing
Dear Vogue:
Let’s get this out of the way first – the Wine Curmudgeon is not a Vogue kind of person. I’m not rich enough, I’m not young or pretty enough, and I don’t dress well enough (hats notwithstanding). Still, I do know about wine, so I thought I would point out that you could have done a better job with your recent boxed wine piece.
Because, no, boxed wine is not becoming cool.
I don’t write this to be snarky or cranky, but to fulfill my role as an advocate for quality journalism, and especially about wine. And the reporting in this story could be much, much better.
You write: Boxed wine “has a bad reputation. Perhaps that’s due to its prevalence on college campuses, or a lack of prevalence beyond: American adults, so many of us are conditioned to think, drink wine from bottles, not boxes.”
That’s not true. The box demographic is Baby Boomer – and the more expensive the box, the older the consumer is. The difference is that we leave the bag in the box when we drink it.
How bougie is that of us?
Second, the story has almost no statistics. Yes, I’m quite happy to see an upscale sommelier at a hip Manhattan bar and retailer say we shouldn’t be so snotty about boxed wine, but it would be nice if the story pointed out that boxed wine sales have been steadily increasing for years – and why they haven’t become more popular (because much of the wine is wretched, actually).
Third, one discussion of a box wine – and one that is almost impossible to buy – and two more wines thrown in at the end do not a story make.
And trust me, no one wants to read about the glass bottle’s heinous carbon footprint more than I do. But you sort of stuck it in because an editor said to, and not because you thought it was important.
So constructive criticism. Because the day we can wave goodbye to the glass bottle and cork – as your sommelier notes – can’t come too soon.
Your pal in better journalism,
The Wine Curmudgeon