Questioning origins
Quick: where does Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay come from? And Yellow Tail? Woodbridge? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
According to a recent survey, unearthed from deep in my inbox, the most influential factor in a consumer’s wine buying is the recommendation of a friend. The second most important is the region where the wine comes from.
So states the new Center for Wine Origins, a new organization based in Washington DC and funded by the European Union, the Champagne bureau and the Port Authority (er, the port wine trade commission). I have enjoyed their ads over the past few years emphasizing the importance of place. And I indeed search for wines very often by place of origin and I agree that place names should have greater legal protection. But I couldn’t help but raising a quizzical eyebrow at these survey results. (See survey highlights; raw data not available)
“Where is the YellowTail?” is something an American consumer is less likely to ask according to the survey than “do you have anything from the Corbieres?” (Or Napa or wherever). “I’m looking for a good red under $10” would be next as price comes in only fourth importance. And asking “Do you have any wines over 90 points and under $20?” does not exist since the scores of critics do not influence wine buying at all according to the survey.
With domestic wines accounting for about 75% of the wine sold in America, and much of that quantity coming from the largely anonymous San Joaquin Valley, I find these results emphasizing origins a little tough to swallow.
Harrumph. Show me the data!
