Archive for the ‘Wine Consumers’ Category
“Critics Play Minor Role in Wine Choices”. This is the conclusion drawn from a presentation based on a consumer survey that John Gillespie gave at the recent Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa on Tuesday. This study is bound to cause considerable discussion and generate significant interest since it seems to dispel the idea that wine critics are important, as well as confirm what many have said about peer-to-peer wine recommendations in the era of social media: That they are…
One would have to admit to experiencing a spell of brute naïveté to imagine, even for brief moment, that the business and politics of wine might be organized around something other than a powerful, moneyed, manipulative class of interests. Reason, reality and history blunt that idea. So, let’s not think it. Instead, let’s imagine a business and politics of wine organized around a different powerful, moneyed, manipulative class of interests than currently dominates the wine marketplace. Let’s imagine the consumer,…
This month I will embark on my 24th year working in the wine industry and I’ve begun to start to think, finally, about the industry from the top down. I was speaking with a friend about this perspective and they asked a pretty simple question: “What have been the major themes in the wine industry over the past two decades?” That it’s simple also makes it somewhat difficult to answer. But, by breaking down the industry into its constituent parts,…
Exploring the way decisions on wine purchases are carried out by the average wine buyer, I think I’ve come up with the correct (in nearly every case) decision tree: Occasion—–> Flavor—–>Price OCCASION Broadly speaking, the first thing a consumer of wine determines upon choosing a wine is why they are buying it—or, for what occasion. 1. On the occasion of my friend’s 50th birthday 2. On the occasion of my dinner of grilled scallops tonight 3. On the occasion of…
The report issued today by the American Wine Consumer Coalition outlined which states best serve and least serve their wine consumers. “Consuming Concerns: The 2013 State-By-State Report Card on Consumer Access to Wine” graded all the states and DC on the degree to which they have enacted laws and regulations that support the interests of wine consumers. Key to this important report are the 6 pillars of wine consumers’ interests in today’s economy that the report looked at. Why are…
