Put It Where?
A
large part of the
attraction wine holds appears to be the fact that it offers
great potential for discovering exciting new taste
experiences. Whereas the amazing diversity of products
available once appeared to paralyze most of us with
indecision, today we are embracing it fully. Not only have
more people begun drinking wine but longtime consumers
appear to be branching out as well. Wine’s newfound
popularity and our willingness to experiment represent a
massive and unprecedented shift in American beverage alcohol
consumption habits. Last year, for the first time, the
Gallup poll reported that more people named wine their
beverage of choice compared to beer or liquor. A recent
Morgan Stanley Research survey found that among regular wine
drinkers 51% expressed little brand loyalty and fully 3O%
declared they were usually on the hunt for new brands. What
does this all mean?
For one thing
the stranglehold that a small number of familiar varietal
and geographic names has held on consumption habits for the
past few decades appears now to be loosening. Just as we
continue spending more on average for wine than we once did,
our choices now are more adventurous and show a greater
openness to unfamiliar ideas. Some of the most exciting
wines I’ve tasted in the last several months are what I
would call “unclassifiable” because they do not fall neatly
into a larger category. Does this uniqueness make them
harder to market? Perhaps, but a new generation of consumer
has arisen who cares less about brand strength, reputation,
advertising, critics’ scores, and endorsements than it does
about pure flavor. Younger consumers are driven by word of
mouth recommendations above all. “Buzz” appears to carry
more weight than pedigree.
What do the
following wines have in common? Not much other than a
delicious purity of flavor and the fact that most
storeowners, restaurateurs or consumers may be unsure where
to put them. Outliers all, their names are harder to
remember than your favorite brand of Chardonnay but they are
wines with a story. Usually it involves a commitment on the
part of an individual or family to risk going beyond safe
and accepted practices to embrace a more personal vision of
wine quality. Some are inexpensive, others not, but each
represents an experience that takes you out of the zone of
maximum comfort and allows you to enter a world of
discovery. They raise more questions than they answer and
this, it turns out, is why so many people are now turning to
wine – because of the intrigue it promises, the opportunity
to have an experience. Obscurity may not be a value in and
of itself, but somehow, if the wine delivers, it helps raise
the excitement level. Drinking a wine nobody else appears to
know much about conveys a certain air of
savoir-faire.
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Ajello Crios Alois Hewitson La |
