Tag Archives: wine consumption

Winebits 768: Wine consumption, back labels, Pix.wine

Man shopping at wine store
Remember, only 1.3 bottles a month.

This week’s wine news: U.S. wine consumption compared to the world, plus the language of wine back labels, and Pix.wine folds

• About one bottle a month: David Morrison, writing on the Wine Gourd blog, details how little American care about wine – or, as he puts it, “For most Americans, wine is not a big deal.” The post looks at per capita consumption, where the U.S. ranks 18th, between Canada and South Africa, at 12 liters a year. That works out to 16 bottles annually, or about 1.3 bottles a month – more or less the average over the past 20 years despite the total increase in U.S. wine consumption. In other words, the increase in consumption has not been bigger than the population increase. Or, writes Morrison: “No-one should conclude that wine is in any way a staple product in the lives of US citizens.” His analysis, in the wake of the past two Gallup alcohol use surveys, is well worth contemplating.

• What’s on the back label? The South African wine writer who uses the non de plume Cape of Good Wine takes a look at wine back labels, a subject we’ve gone into quite a bit on the blog. His take: There is more to back labels than bad winespeak (and he goes into detail on that, too), and especially in his native country. He is particularly impressed with the way some producers do the right thing on the back, listing sustainability and fair trade efforts. Maybe, he writes, producers should use the back label as their main selling point: “And I hope there’ll come a day where we will all rotate each bottle in eager anticipation of seeing how the winery is more environmentally and socially responsible.”

• Pix.wine: I wasn’t going to write about the wine site Pix.wine closing this month; call it more bad news for those of us who write about wine, and leave it at that. But 1 Wine Dude Joe Roberts, a long-time pal of the blog, points out that Pix’s demise is just one more sign of wine’s problems. Its failure, writes Joe, is another sign that the wine business has no idea how to adjust to the digital age. A few caveats here: I wrote for Pix and my editor, Felicity Carter, is one of the best I’ve worked with, wine or otherwise. Plus, Pix impresario Paul Mabray has done a hell of lot for wine and wine writing. So I may not be especially impartial when I say Joe makes some fine points (though in language we don’t use on the blog) about the wine business’ woes. Would that someone besides Joe and I – and a handful of others – cared.

Winebits 750: Wine consumption, wine humor, California wine

wine drinker
“I’m not sure how I’m supposed to pass out on a bottle of wine a month, either.”

This week’s wine news: World wine consumption statistics, plus the New Yorker offers wine buying tips, and a 50th anniversary celebration for some of California’s top wineries

• Not nearly as much: The Europeans still drink the most wine in the world, per capita, but their consumption has declined dramatically, reports Decanter. In France, In France, consumption has fallen by about half, per capita, in the last 50 years, as it has in Italy. The Portuguese are the biggest wine drinkers in the world, with about 69 bottles a year per person. Per capita consumption in the U.S. remains a little more than one bottle a month, though we’re still the biggest wine drinking country in the world by total volume. Neo-Prohibitionists: Explain how we’re all getting drunk every night on a bottle of wine a month, would you?

• Gen Z, baby! Nate Odenkirk, writing in The New Yorker, has figured out wine buying, an offers this advice: “What font do you see? Helvetica? Loopy cursive? Tasteful balloon letters? Yes, please! The wine inside may be aged, but the label screams Gen Z.” His take – which includes three other tips — is appropriately humorous and and playful, as we would expect from the magazine that published James Thurber and S. J. Perelman. “Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer,” anyone?

• Happy birthday: Dave McIntyre, writing in the Washington Post, demonstrates why he is one of the top writers in country with this take on the 50th anniversary of some of California’s most important wineries. They include Caymus, Silver Oak, Dry Creek, and Smith-Madoren. Dave tells the story with perspective and intelligence, never once lapsing into winespeak. Perhaps most importantly, he writes for an audience that may be interested in wine, but doesn’t want to geek out over it. Would that more U.S. wine writing did that.

Ask the WC 33: Wine consumption, bad wine, Earth Day

wine drinkers
“I didn’t know world wine production was decreasing — thanks, WC.”

This edition of Ask the WC: The decline in world wine consumption, plus how to tell when wine goes off and Earth Day

Because the customers always have questions, and the Wine Curmudgeon has answers in this irregular feature. You can Ask the Wine Curmudgeon a wine-related question by clicking here.

Dear Wine Curmudgeon:
Are there any actual statistics about the decline in wine consumption? Or are you just making that up?
A skeptic

Dear Skeptic:
How about The International Organisation of Vine and Wine, or OIV, which tracks world wine production? “In 2021 extremely low world wine production volume is expected, at a level similar to 2017. This would be the third consecutive year where the global production level is below average n 2021.” So less production means less consumption.
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Hi, WC:
I opened a wine the other day, and it smelled all funky and gross. Did it go bad? How can you tell?
Bad wine?

Dear Bad:
I get this question a lot, and most recently at a wine class I did a couple of weeks ago (emerging from the pandemic). Yes, wine can go bad — heat, light, and too much age can spoil it. The wine can taste like badly made brandy, taste like over-cooked tomato soup, or even not have much flavor at all. Ironically, about the time of the wine class, I wrote a piece for Pix.wine about this exact subject.
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Hey, Jeff:
You didn’t write anything about Earth Day and wine last week!
Green wine drinker

Dear Green:
I wrote an Earth Day piece a couple of years ago on the old blog, and no one read it. So I prefer to remind the wine business about its obligation to the planet the other 364 days a year — here and here, for example. And don’t worry — I’ll keep doing it.

Photo: Kelsey Chance on Unsplash

More Ask the WC:
• Ask the WC 32: Wine prices, wine and health, Ukraine
• Ask the WC 31: Pinot noir, minimum pricing, wine apocalypse
• Ask the WC 30: BYOB, wine for friends, California fires

Winebits 728: Wine snobs, wine and health, French wine

wine snobs
“Of course, I don’t know anything about wine. But why should that stop me from faking it?”

This week’s wine news: Wine drinkers are notorious snobs, plus we’re drinking less (honest) and why there will always be a French wine industry

• Bring on the snobs! About one-half of Britons think discussing wine while you’re drinking it is pretentious, and about one-quarter say they have pretended to know more about wine than they do. And we wonder why wine has the reputation that it does? The survey, given that it was done by a company that makes celebrity wine, may not be the most reliable. Still, the results reinforce what non-wine drinkers think about those of us who drink wine. And what does it say about wine drinkers that the survey noted that one-quarter of respondents said screwcaps are still used to judge the quality of a wine?

• Less wine drinking? Almost 40 percent of regular wine drinkers are actively moderating their consumption, particularly younger consumers, according to a study from the Wine Intelligence consultancy. This should only be staggering news (yes, bad pun fully intended) to the neo-Prohibitionists, who have insisted for some two years that we’re all passed out on the sofa each night after dinner – if we bother to eat dinner at all. The report noted that moderation could be “drinking less alcohol at certain occasions, or reducing the strength, or choosing not to drink at all at some occasions.” In the U.S., this included drinking lower alcohol wines and participating in things like Dry January.

• Only in France: The Wine Curmudgeon did a Zoom tasting last week featuring wineries in Bordeaux that make dessert-style wines. The tasting, given how rarely I get to sample these kinds of wines anymore because of higher prices and limited availability, was especially worthwhile. But the other thing that stuck out: The description of Chateau du Cros, one of the wineries. Only in France would someone describe their family as newcomers to the wine business, since they’ve only owned the winery since the World War I. Which is not just more than 100 years ago, but coincides with the beginning of Prohibition in the U.S.

Winebits 698: Layoffs, wine prices, wine consumption

grocery store wineThis week’s wine news: Consolidation-driven layoffs hit California, plus wine prices are tied to toilet paper prices and the French are drinking more wine

• Layoffs hit California wineries: Clos du Bois and Sebastiani, two long-time California wineries, closed last week as consolidation tightened its grip on the wine business. Wine-searcher reported that the brands will continue, but will be made elsewhere. As many as 80 people could lose their jobs. E&J Gallo closed the Clos du Bois winery, a Sonoma fixture since 1974, after acquiring the label in its multi-billion dollar deal with Constellation Brands. Sebastiani, founded in 1904, survived Prohibition and two world wars, but not its purchase by Foley Family Wines in 2008. Both producers said it didn’t make economic sense to keep the wineries open.

• Who knew? Newsweek, as near as I can tell, is reporting that since toilet paper prices will increase in the “post-Covid-19 era,” so will wine prices. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence supporting this assertion, save for a reference to the consumer price index for people who live in cities and some quotes taken – not necessarily in context – from this year’s Silicon Valley Bank report. The story, in fact, is a terrific example of post-modern reporting – stringing together a bunch of news releases, paraphrasing quotes, and pretending that it takes the place of original reporting.

• Good for the French: French home wine consumption increased more than three percent in 2020, probably because of the pandemic. The report, from the the country’s FranceAgriMer agency, found that households bought about four cases of wine. But that’s still less than the five-year average and about 20 percent less than what they bought in 2010. Interestingly, the best selling price category was €2.99 or less (about US$3.65) – a price point that barely exists in this country.

Winebits 629: Prohibition, SVB report, wine consumption

ProhibitionThis week’s wine news: It’s the 100th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, plus insight into the SVB wine report and why the U.S. still drinks more wine than anyone else

• Happy anniversary – or not: Reports the BBC: “A century on, a small group of Americans are fighting to keep the dream of the so-called ‘noble experiment’ alive.” The story looks at those who think repeal was a mistake, and why they’re still optimistic about stopping alcohol sales in the U.S. Because, as the story also notes, “The drinking age of 21 is higher than in other nations where drinking is legal. Dry counties and dry towns – where alcohol sales are restricted or barred outright — are dotted throughout the country. And Gallup polling from last year shows that nearly one fifth of respondents said drinking alcohol was “morally wrong.”

• Keep the faith, baby: Rob McMillan, whose Silicon Valley Bank wine industry report made such depressing reading last week, tells the Wine Business International trade magazine that one should not abandon hope. He says the industry needs more professional management, which is usually missing given so many family businesses; that wine needs to understand younger consumers and not assume they’re like their parents and grandparents; and that wine needs to focus on health and not premiumization.

• Still No. 1: The U.S. remains the world’s biggest consumer of wine, despite all the doom and gloom. That’s the latest data from a study by International Wine and Spirit Research commissioned by Vinexpo. Intriguingly, Chinese consumers drink more red wine than anyone else, some 155 million cases. By comparison, the French drink 150 million cases of red wine. No, I have no idea what this means, save the Chinese prefer red wine.

Ask the WC 15: Wine consumption, wine refrigerators, wine tastings

wine consumptionThis edition of Ask the WC: European wine consumption, and why they’re drinking less; plus, wine refrigerators and how much wine the WC tastes a year.

Because the customers always have questions, and the Wine Curmudgeon has answers in this irregular feature. You can Ask the Wine Curmudgeon a wine-related question by clicking here.

Hi, WC:
You recently wrote that “European producers keep pulling out vines in the wake of reduced wine consumption in France, Spain, and Italy.” Why is that? Why are they drinking less?
Surprised

Dear Surprised:
European wine consumption has been steadily declining for years, thanks to stricter drunk driving laws, the aging of the population, and younger drinkers turning away from wine. Sound familiar? Having said that, Europeans still drink more wine per capita than we do — about one bottle a month for Americans compared to four bottles per person in France.

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Oh Cheap Wine One:
I’m thinking about buying a wine refrigerator. Do I need one?
Chilling out

Dear Chilling:
Probably not, unless you’re buying wine that needs to age. And most wine doesn’t. The usual figure is that 90 percent of the wine in the world is made to drink within a couple of years of its vintage. In which case, use the fridge — take a cold white wine out about 20 minutes before you want to drink it, and chill a red for 20 or 30 minutes before opening.

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Hello, Wine Curmudgeon:
You must write hundreds of wine reviews a year. Do you really taste that much wine? How much do you taste a year?
Curious

Dear Curious:
I write about 200 reviews of some sort on the blog each year (which doesn’t include reviews and the like for my freelance work). All told, I probably taste a couple of thousand wines a year between trade tastings, competitions, and drinking at home. It’s like my pal Dave McINtyre says: “It’s not so much that my palate is better is yoursd. I just drink a lot more wine than you do.”

More Ask the Wine Curmudgeon:
• Ask the WC 14: The wine availability edition
• Ask the WC 13: California chardonnay, grip, affordable wine
• Ask the WC 12: $5 wine, varietal character, negative reviews