Let's looks ahead to the next 12 months in wine.
Counterfeiting:
After the excitement of the Rudy Kurniawan trial, will wine
counterfeiting diminish in 2014? Michael Egan, a fine-wine expert based
in Bordeaux who testified at the trial, notes shifts. “All the recent
activity has made the top domaines redouble their efforts to prevent
counterfeiting and bolster record keeping.”
He says that the recent activity of the Department of Justice will
have a chilling effect, making the U.S. a less likely place of
fabrication. China, however, continues as a locus. Thus, to keep the
American market as clean as possible, Egan suggests inspections by U.S.
Customs on imported wines.
Rising consumption:
Late in 2013, a report
from Morgan Stanley analysts in Australia made a bold claim: the world
is running short on wine. Although wine industry experts and insiders
around the world disputed the claim, the meme gathered steam in the
media, and, for a few weeks at least, lots of people who wouldn't
normally talk about wine were discussing the shortage and picking up
bottles.
That may have played a part in pushing wine sales higher in the U.S.,
the world’s largest wine market. If figures show that wine sales
increased in 2013, it would be the twentieth consecutive year of
increasing per-capita consumption. Indeed, interest in wine remains
high, and growing – even economic downturns haven’t derailed the wine
train in America.
But threats loom, foremost among them craft beer and cocktails. The
rising quality of craft beer, often at a lower price than wine, and the
rising interest in mixology and flavored vodkas (cinnabon flavor,
anyone?) could peel off marginal wine drinkers. Younger drinkers,
though, are ecumenical and often like to sample a variety of drinks.
Super-somms:
A decade ago, critics bestrode the wine world, swirling wines,
spitting out points, and moving markets. Today, a placement on a top
wine list can be a bigger boost for sales. Sommeliers, particularly in
America, are the new influencers. But, with social media, room remains
for many voices.
© Melissa Hom/La Grange Tiphaine | L-R:
Patrick Cappiello, sans saber, conducts a wine tasting; La Grange
Tiphaine's Damien Delecheneau is on Cappiello's list of up-and-coming
producers
Wider view:
One trend, particularly for restaurants, is a shift away from Champagne toward other bubbles, according
to Patrick Cappiello, who presides over New York restaurant Pearl &
Ash aka “Sabertown USA." Frequently found astride the bar, saber in
hand, Cappiello decapitates more bottles in a week than most of us will
do in a lifetime. He cites such strong interest in “grower Champagne”
over the past few years that the wines have become hard to find in the
market. “As a result,” he says, “importers and wine buyers will have to
look to new or forgotten areas.” Top on his list of such places are the
Loire Valley and Northern Italy, including producers La Grange Tiphaine
and Ca’ dei Zago.
As with bubblies, rising prices for domaine and estate wines from
many established regions will continue the push by consumers and
sommeliers to explore new or emerging regions. Beneficiaries of
this trend will continue to be New York State riesling, Greek wines,
indigenous varieties of Spain and Italy, and wines from central Europe
(including, perhaps, Moldova, benefiting from Secretary of State John
Kerry’s brief winery visit there in December).
Auctions:
Collectors will continue to broaden their interest in Burgundy,
pushing beyond Domaine de la Romanée Conti in 2014. Jamie Pollack,
managing director of Zachys Wine Auctions
for North America, reports that Domaines Dujac, G. Roumier, Rousseau,
and Leroy saw more bidding last year. The auctioneer says that
provenance matters because bidders have become “more and more educated
in understanding the importance of how the wine has been stored and
where it was purchased.” Lots with pristine provenance – particularly
those wines sold straight from the producer's cellar – have fetched
impressive premiums this year.
Meet the author, also the publisher:
As the Great Recession wreaked havoc on traditional media and
publishing, newspapers and publishers have closed or been sold as
journalism seeks a new business model. With its relatively small but
educated and affluent readership, self-publishing has proven viable and
accepted with books from the likes of Allen Meadows, Neal Martin and
Peter Liem in recent years. This trend will continue in 2014. Blogs,
newsletters and social media can also be forms of self-publication,
needless to say.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ Especial/Notimex | Clever use of Twitter boosts everything from books to Beyoncé
Get Beyonc’d?
Wineries have, on the whole, been reluctant and late adoptors of
social media. But 2013 has demonstrated that Twitter sells. Take, for
example, Richard Betts’ "scratch and sniff" wine book, which skyrocketed
to number 10 on the New York Times bestseller list thanks to promotion
on Twitter. Or Beyoncé’s surprise year-end album. The album's launch was
announced via social media on the day it was released and shot to the
top of the charts within hours.
Many producers have been all thumbs when it comes to social media but
will start putting their digits to better use on their smartphones.
Some of that will involve better tracking and engagement on social
media; others could implement geolocation such as “geofencing” from
VinTank, which helps wineries track the locations of mailing list
customers visiting wineries nearby (with their consent).
Red wine, not red tape:
There’s hope that consumers will achieve more unfettered access to
wine. In November, a group of representatives of 21 Pacific Rim
countries met with an eye to reducing what Robert Koch of California’s
Wine Institute called “burdensome and duplicative” regulations; between
1990 and 2012, wine has tripled to $23 billion in the region.
In the U.S., the formation of a group representing wine consumers'
rights, the American Wine Consumer Coalition, augurs well for more
voices in the discussion on America’s own complex, burdensome and
duplicative regulatory structure.
Source: www.wine-searcher.com
Counterfeiting:
After the excitement of the Rudy Kurniawan trial, will wine
counterfeiting diminish in 2014? Michael Egan, a fine-wine expert based
in Bordeaux who testified at the trial, notes shifts. “All the recent
activity has made the top domaines redouble their efforts to prevent
counterfeiting and bolster record keeping.”
He says that the recent activity of the Department of Justice will
have a chilling effect, making the U.S. a less likely place of
fabrication. China, however, continues as a locus. Thus, to keep the
American market as clean as possible, Egan suggests inspections by U.S.
Customs on imported wines.
Rising consumption:
Late in 2013, a report
from Morgan Stanley analysts in Australia made a bold claim: the world
is running short on wine. Although wine industry experts and insiders
around the world disputed the claim, the meme gathered steam in the
media, and, for a few weeks at least, lots of people who wouldn't
normally talk about wine were discussing the shortage and picking up
bottles.
That may have played a part in pushing wine sales higher in the U.S.,
the world’s largest wine market. If figures show that wine sales
increased in 2013, it would be the twentieth consecutive year of
increasing per-capita consumption. Indeed, interest in wine remains
high, and growing – even economic downturns haven’t derailed the wine
train in America.
But threats loom, foremost among them craft beer and cocktails. The
rising quality of craft beer, often at a lower price than wine, and the
rising interest in mixology and flavored vodkas (cinnabon flavor,
anyone?) could peel off marginal wine drinkers. Younger drinkers,
though, are ecumenical and often like to sample a variety of drinks.
Super-somms:
A decade ago, critics bestrode the wine world, swirling wines,
spitting out points, and moving markets. Today, a placement on a top
wine list can be a bigger boost for sales. Sommeliers, particularly in
America, are the new influencers. But, with social media, room remains
for many voices.
© Melissa Hom/La Grange Tiphaine | L-R:
Patrick Cappiello, sans saber, conducts a wine tasting; La Grange
Tiphaine's Damien Delecheneau is on Cappiello's list of up-and-coming
producers
Wider view:
One trend, particularly for restaurants, is a shift away from Champagne toward other bubbles, according
to Patrick Cappiello, who presides over New York restaurant Pearl &
Ash aka “Sabertown USA." Frequently found astride the bar, saber in
hand, Cappiello decapitates more bottles in a week than most of us will
do in a lifetime. He cites such strong interest in “grower Champagne”
over the past few years that the wines have become hard to find in the
market. “As a result,” he says, “importers and wine buyers will have to
look to new or forgotten areas.” Top on his list of such places are the
Loire Valley and Northern Italy, including producers La Grange Tiphaine
and Ca’ dei Zago.
As with bubblies, rising prices for domaine and estate wines from
many established regions will continue the push by consumers and
sommeliers to explore new or emerging regions. Beneficiaries of
this trend will continue to be New York State riesling, Greek wines,
indigenous varieties of Spain and Italy, and wines from central Europe
(including, perhaps, Moldova, benefiting from Secretary of State John
Kerry’s brief winery visit there in December).
Auctions:
Collectors will continue to broaden their interest in Burgundy,
pushing beyond Domaine de la Romanée Conti in 2014. Jamie Pollack,
managing director of Zachys Wine Auctions
for North America, reports that Domaines Dujac, G. Roumier, Rousseau,
and Leroy saw more bidding last year. The auctioneer says that
provenance matters because bidders have become “more and more educated
in understanding the importance of how the wine has been stored and
where it was purchased.” Lots with pristine provenance – particularly
those wines sold straight from the producer's cellar – have fetched
impressive premiums this year.
Meet the author, also the publisher:
As the Great Recession wreaked havoc on traditional media and
publishing, newspapers and publishers have closed or been sold as
journalism seeks a new business model. With its relatively small but
educated and affluent readership, self-publishing has proven viable and
accepted with books from the likes of Allen Meadows, Neal Martin and
Peter Liem in recent years. This trend will continue in 2014. Blogs,
newsletters and social media can also be forms of self-publication,
needless to say.
© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/ Especial/Notimex | Clever use of Twitter boosts everything from books to Beyoncé
Get Beyonc’d?
Wineries have, on the whole, been reluctant and late adoptors of
social media. But 2013 has demonstrated that Twitter sells. Take, for
example, Richard Betts’ "scratch and sniff" wine book, which skyrocketed
to number 10 on the New York Times bestseller list thanks to promotion
on Twitter. Or Beyoncé’s surprise year-end album. The album's launch was
announced via social media on the day it was released and shot to the
top of the charts within hours.
Many producers have been all thumbs when it comes to social media but
will start putting their digits to better use on their smartphones.
Some of that will involve better tracking and engagement on social
media; others could implement geolocation such as “geofencing” from
VinTank, which helps wineries track the locations of mailing list
customers visiting wineries nearby (with their consent).
Red wine, not red tape:
There’s hope that consumers will achieve more unfettered access to
wine. In November, a group of representatives of 21 Pacific Rim
countries met with an eye to reducing what Robert Koch of California’s
Wine Institute called “burdensome and duplicative” regulations; between
1990 and 2012, wine has tripled to $23 billion in the region.
In the U.S., the formation of a group representing wine consumers'
rights, the American Wine Consumer Coalition, augurs well for more
voices in the discussion on America’s own complex, burdensome and
duplicative regulatory structure.
Source: www.wine-searcher.com
Source: www.wine-searcher.com
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