Bi-Polar Politics in Wine, Oncoming Urbanism and Your Thoughts

A reader (Gabriel from Portland) playfully chided me recently and said, “You never ask for comments.”  He’s right, I don’t ask for comments.  But, I surely do appreciate it when people do comment.  Talking to yourself can be lonely.

With Gabriel in mind, instead of doing my traditional op-ed and declaration of opinion as fact, I’m going to lay out some thoughts and then some third-party contextual information and maybe we can have some fun in the comments section today.

First, it’s my impression that the U.S. wine industry is politically bi-polar in ways that defy easy description.

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On the one hand, the prevailing sentiment in the wine business from a macro perspective is socially liberal.  It’s soft, it’s touchy, it’s artsy and inclusive of all of God’s creatures.  Yet, on the other hand, when it comes to the dirt, growing grapes, and protecting nature, hidebound neo-conservative traditionalists rule the day.  Ask anybody trying to navigate the labyrinth of red tape for a new vineyard development in Napa or Sonoma.  So, how to explain these polar opposite perspectives between progressive and preservation?  I’m not sure, but I think the coming two decades will tell the tale.

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of dry-as-dirt information about global population growth.  I’m fascinated by the explosive growth of wine in China and the eye-popping auction sales numbers that follow by press release nearly every week.  For example, Acker, Merrall & Condit, the world’s largest wine auction house, sold over $10M in wine in Hong Kong over two days in late March, selling 99% of the available 1,080 lots for sales.  Their success is not an isolated incident and China is just one leading edge indicator of the globalization that will occur in wine in the next several decades.

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Here are a couple of excerpts from Trendwatching.com’s report on the future of urban consumption as well as McKinsey and Company reports on global economic growth in urban environments:

* 50.5% of the world is already urbanized

* By 2050, the global population living in an urban environment is expected to be 70%

* By 2030 China and India will have a combined total of 289 cities with a population exceeding one million people.  During this period, 615 million people will move into these urban environments exceeding the U.S. population in its entirety by nearly double.

* 400 midsize cities in emerging markets—cities that most of us have never heard of—are poised to generate nearly 40 percent of global growth over the next 15 years.

* For every 1% increase in urbanization in China, the country can expect a 1.6% increase in the contribution to their gross domestic product (GDP).

The prognostications are nearly universal – rural flight and population movement into urban environments in economically emerging countries like China and India is fueling growth, innovation, and wealth, re-balancing a global world axis that has always leaned towards the west.  This urbanization and increase in the quality of life as measured by economic wherewithal is driving an acquired taste for the trappings of Western middle-class life, including wine – a worldwide symbol of the good life dating back thousands of years.

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Net-net:  the wine world we live in will be radically different 10 years from now and, perhaps, unrecognizable to us 30 years hence.  And, this has all sorts of implications on the U.S. wine industry not the least of which is the aforementioned progressive sensibility countered by a traditional sense of agricultural stewardship.  A yin and a yang that may not always be in balance in the future.

To kick off the comments, here are a couple of thoughts/questions for you to react to:

* After-market wine auctions are getting the headlines; will the domestic wine business move to capitalize on expanding markets (be progressive) or sit on their hands (be traditional) till markets develop further?

* What will be the hottest job title in the wine business in the next 10-20 years?

* With increasing urbanization and the fine dining that is associated with cities, what role do you think Sommeliers will play in the future as wine tastemakers?

* India and China are both societies with hierarchical structures that accord respect to expertise and elders.  Will this continue the proliferation of the role of the wine critic?

* Do you think a Western wine critic is likely to assume this role in developing, global wine markets or will it be a native to that specific country?

* With international urbanization comes a specific set of needs, will the domestic wine industry systematically move to brand development that resonates globally instead of a “sense of place” that is focused on their dirt?

* Will small production, “cult” wineries allocate their wines to where they can command the most money (and profit) or will they stay true to their domestic roots and the customers that got them there?

* If the upper echelon of U.S. wineries focus globally, does that open up an opportunity for U.S. consumers to more readily find and engage with wineries from emerging U.S. regions – the Finger Lakes, Michigan, Virginia?

* What thoughts do you have about global urbanization and the impact it may have on focus, production, marketing or criticism compared to our current state?

Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts in the comments section!

Additional reading on global urbanization:

* McKinsey Global cities of the future map

* McKinsey Emerging Global Cities

* McKinsey Mapping the Economic Power of Cities

* McKinsey Focus on Cities

* Wikipedia entry on BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as a coming economic superpower

* United Nations research on global urban living

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/bi-polar_politics_in_wine_oncoming_urbanism_and_your_thoughts/

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Tasting notes - Berlin Tasting

Here follows my tasting notes from The Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen. No. 1 - 2005 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Bordeaux) Dark colour with intense smell of pencil, cigar, currant and spicy wood. It’s full-bodied, rich and concentrated but also with an upfront softness. 96/100. No. 2 - 2004 Sassicaia (Tuscany) Not so intense in the nose - a little cherry. The [...]

Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/40/tasting-notes-berlin-tasting/

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Social Media Quick Tip: Tag Your Favorite Wine Brands on Facebook

This is old news for some, but if you haven’t explored the status tagging feature (similar to photo tagging) on Facebook, take a few minutes and check it out. Status tagging can help your winery’s Facebook fan page to become more engaging and vibrant.  Facebook users can type the “@” symbol before a Facebook fan [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/social-media-quick-tip-tag-your-favorite-wine-brands-on-facebook/

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A Little Competition Never Hurts!

That’s right – it’s time. The Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition begins tomorrow. Nearly 100 international judges, more than 3,000 international wines. Who will take the gold? Keep coming back to find out more information about the 3-day event and watch for judges to be blogging and twittering in between judging!

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=60

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Wine Word of the Week: Champagne

This week?s Wine Word of the Week is Champagne. Official definition from Jancis Robinson?s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Champagne is a name derived from the Latin term Campania, originally used to describe the rolling open countryside just north of Rome. In the early Middle Ages, it became applied to a province in north east [...]

Wine Word of the Week: Champagne was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/sMf3OM7nW-I/

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Time to Sniff, Swirl, Spit

Two weeks from today, nearly 100 international wine judges will converge on Fairplex to sniff, swirl and spit their way through more than 3,000 wines – all in attempt to crown the best of the best.  The Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition begins May 27. Right now, wine staff are busy preparing the thousands [...]

Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=39

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What?s so Odd about Oddbins?

Oddbins is in trouble, and it needs a new lease of life, and probably a new investor, to survive, but brands CAN survive repeated near-death experiences if they have something to live for. Newspapers and the wine media are full of doom and gloom stories about the future of Oddbins, once the UK’s coolest wine [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/5Dwrpa9zIOU/

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Massachusetts House Bills Would Enable Winery Direct Shipment

A couple weeks ago David Wade from Boston's CBS affiliate WBZ-TV came over for an update on Massachusetts wine shipping laws. In 2010 courts ruled that direct shipments should take place but little has changed since then. Many wondered - why?

I explained in the interview that we needed additional changes to Massachusetts law to enable wineries to ship to us. At a high level we need to define how licensing and shipments should take place. Beyond that there are a few key sticking points.

Most of the relevant laws are within Chapter 139 Section 19F of the Massachusetts General Laws. Two bills are currently being considered that would address problematic issues with current laws: HB 1029 and HB 1883

Three sticking points with current laws are:

  • Large wineries with distribution in Massachusetts
    19F (a) allows for direct shipment for large wineries provided they don't already have distribution in Massachusetts. Both bills strike 19F (a) and replace it with no mention of whether the winery has distribution in the state.
  • Per-consumer volume caps
    19F (e) says that no household can receive more than 240 liters of wine annually. The problem with the current arrangement isn't the amount of wine allowed - it's that any given winery wouldn't know whether they were the ones who tipped a consumer over the 240 liter cap (about 26 cases).

    HB 1029 imposes a 24 case annual cap for each winery per consumer. HB1883 strikes the mention of a per-household cap without imposing a per-winery cap.

  • Fleet licensing for "Common Carriers" (FedEx and UPS)
    This is by far the most important issue, and it's what has long been limiting small wineries from shipping to Massachusetts. If you consult the FedEx and UPS websites they say they don't ship wine to Massachusetts. Chapter 139 Section 22 requires that each truck that carries wine has a $150 permit.

    I'm not sure how many trucks FedEx and UPS have, and which of their trucks are currently licensed (I've been trying to contact FedEx for clarity on this issue for weeks - if you know someone at FedEx or UPS who could speak to this issue please have them contact me at wellesleywinepress@gmail.com) but the two bills vary in how they'd change licensing.

    HB 1029 offers a $5,000 annual fleet license. HB 1883 simply says that any firm doing business as a parcel delivery service can deliver wine without an additional permit. HB 1883 sounds preferable in this respect since FedEx and UPS might balk at the $5,000 figure and decide it's not worth their while to pay the $5k each year.

So there you have it. If our laws are amended according to this bill (or either one really - I'd expect the two bills to be merged) direct shipment of wine could finally be a reality in Massachusetts.

Note that this would not enable shipments from out of state retailers - this only applies to wineries. As I've said before retailer direct shipment would be much more meaningful to consumers as it opens up competition on price on all wines and especially selection on imported wines. More on that issue in a future post. 

Your call to action right now:

If you live in Massachusetts and favor winery direct shipment visit the Free the Grapes website and use their sample letter to E-mail state senators and representative to explain why this issue is important and to request their support.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/B7f6xPs8YFU/massachusetts-house-bills-would-enable.html

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