I don’t’ buy it. What’s all this talk of "consolidation" of America’s wineries? While the total cases produced by the various wineries and labels owned and marketed by corporate wineries is huge, the number of brands (and partcularly the number of quality-oriented brands) controlled by corporate interests is miniscule compared to the number of American wineries from which you can buy great wine. Wine Business Monthly recently announced, "an overriding theme in the wine industry in 2004 was consolidation." I’m…

In Dan Berger’s latest issue of "Vintage Experiences" (a weekly newsletter that is truly indispensable) he highlights a rather disturbing marketing trend this is about to hit wine consumers. He notes that Gallo will be adding Radio Frequency Identification tags to the wines it sells at Walmart. What this means is when you purchase that Gallo wine and pay with a credit card, Walmart and, presumably, Gallo will be able to know who you are, what Gallo wine you bought,…

I can, today, officially announce that the "hard times" that had hit the California wine industry over the past few years is….OVER!!! How can I know for sure? Today I received a postcard from Williams Selyem announcing: "your Williams Selyem allocation is in JEOPARDY" What I’m being told is that if I don’t buy some W-S Pinot by March 11, 2005, to be specific, I’m off the allocation list. Now, it’s true that I’ve not taken my allocation for the…

Read this carefully: Today, a new generation entering young adulthood is exhibiting the same receptivity to wine that leading edge Baby Boomers did more than 30 years ago. And like the Baby Boom generation, their numbers are so great as to make their dominance in the market inevitable. They are the Millennial generation, and they offer the wine industry the kind of growth potential not seen in more than thirty years." This passage comes from a report issued by the…

Here are your top 20 political givers in the alcohol industry during the 2004 election cycle, courtesy of Opensecrets.org. That $2.4 million figure for the National beer Wholesalers Association is pretty impressive, isn’t it. This giant PAC buys a lot of influence. One of their main concerns is keeping excise taxes low on beer. Note the amount spent by the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association versus the Wine Institute. The huge difference is reflective not only of strategies held by…