RNDC … has been in a years-long tailspin and now is selling off its remaining business to a handful of distributors nationwide. Which means even greater consolidation.
Interesting article, but Caroline’s comment here makes little sense. If RNDC is selling off components individually to smaller distributors, that leads to less consolidation rather than more.
Also I disagree that advising people to “drink what they like” cheapens wine or implies that all wine is equal in quality. There are plenty of cheap wines I can enjoy in the proper setting, mostly crisp, uncomplicated whites like Trader Joe vinho verde and run-of-the-mill NZ sauv blanc. I don’t fool myself into believing they’re equal in quality to a fine Sancerre or Puligny-Montrachet, but at those times I’m looking for refreshment without intellectual demand.
Bottom line: quality is crucial, but asking people to consume products they don’t like is silly.
The second meaning (naive or unsophisticated) is a consequence of being uneducated. And there remains a difference in usage. If I were a snob about literary taste, I might call someone unlettered, but I would be showing my own linguistic shortcomings if I called him or her a rube.
But wine or literature, snobbery is snobbery.
Agreed. State run spirits keeps the leveraging of lists for wine to a minimum but can be a real challenge to the spirits themselves.
Oregon has a decent range of spirits, but only because restaurants/bartenders pushed hard enough to force the issue publicly. Prior to that selection was terrible.
It’s pretty easy to tell if it’s a distributor list. For example, an Asian restaurant with no wines that pair with the food. Or just the same mass produced stuff you see everywhere.
There is a winery located in Placerville doing that. https://www.cappelliwine.com
I’ve visited twice. The wines are all solid. After time spent in Italy, Marco Cappelli’s mission is to make affordable wine for everyday use.
Heh, I knew Marco back in his Napa days. Made a highly rated Syrah that I deeply hated. Nice fellow, very bright, knew exactly what he was doing. “We let 'em ripen until they’re baggy before we pick, then hit them with new oak.” About 25 years ago, I was on a tasting panel with him and Daryl Groom (and some others) going through a selection of Syrahs, blind. We all agreed that one of them had more oak than the rest and assumed it was an Aussie. Nope. Marco said he found that “sobering.”
Wish I would have known when I visited PGC about 2 1/2 years ago. Will hit that next visit. Regardless, ended up at Killdeer on the ridge and really enjoyed the gin.
Tom, supermarkets can’t charge alcohol vendors slotting fees in the US. It seemed like you were implying it?
On the article… Jason’s Florida beach restaurant wine list example is correct. All the wines on that list come from one distributor—SGWS. That same vendor in Florida sells Chloe, as well as Egly-Ouriet, along with a swath of other mass-market and artisanal producers.
Instead of bashing big brands and distributors (too easy), shouldn’t more accountability be placed on the retailer or restaurant buyer? The reality is that most non-wine-destination (and even some wine-destination) restaurants and retailers lack wine-knowledgeable operators. The operators they do have are often overburdened and easily tempted by pre-crafted “generic” lists dominated by large suppliers that incentivize sales reps through placements. These lists require little to no thought or active management and, most importantly, are profitable.
Lastly, I agree with others above that the disparaging comments made about Chloe in front of the person who brought it were cringeworthy. I would be embarrassed if a friend openly shit-talked a wine or food that another friend had brought to my home to share. Is the goal of openly shaming someone who enjoys a $9 bottle of Chloe to upsell them to a $23 Tuscan white blend? Good luck with that…
Living in London, I’d like to say that’s not really the case. That said, many supermarket wine shelves in the UK are also lamentable when compared to the breadth and variety you get in say a trader joes or whole foods in California. People should drink whatever they like, but I suppose preferring supermarket wines in the UK does signal you like wines like bulk Rioja, Apothic red and 19 Crimes… is that scoff worthy? My inner snob is inclined to say it is.
Edit: Should add that I acknowledge price matters here. Unfortunately given the draconian alcohol duties that are in force, it is hard to find quality bottles for under £15, even at dedicated bottle shops.
I agree with many people. I cook 95% of my own meals. I enjoy cooking and having a nice glass or two while I prepare the meal. So clearly that means I dont eat out often. When I do I either bring my own bottle and pay corkage or drink a cocktail or beer. The wine lists are not my style at all. Now the one time I went to Italy it was different. I always try to eat at a smaller place, not a big chain place and never in the hotel. I try to eat at as many different places to get a real feel, as best I can, for the local cuisine. But in Florence, I broke my rule and ate at the same place twice. Why? Because their house wine, by the half and full liter, was SO GOOD, that I was blown away. A wine that I would drink at home often, was on the menu for $10 euro a liter and was it good. I often wonder, as many have, why can’t we get something like this back in the USA? I have my thoughts but that is not relevant to the discussion. I always hoped that in wine country areas, Napa, Sonoma, South CA and Willamette valley, would offer something like that. A great table wine at a great price that works with the meal. But that’s what we get from the long lasting prohibition laws and the worked in monopolies that are so archaic and sadly not going anywhere any time soon.
Still remember the great house table wine. Want to go back to Italy just for the table wine and food!
Just a data point I’ve mentioned before - I go to Nashville quite often for my day job. Most times we stay at the nice 1 Hotel downtown. They have a great restaurant and rooftop bar, everything is rather high end, rooms are nice etc - but the wine list is abysmal. Feels exactly like the article here references.
The “drink what you like” dogma is relativist nonsense.
It’s worth thinking about what the purpose of “drink what you like” really is.
I say it in situations where I don’t want to put down someone’s choice of wine. That’s it. I don’t actually believe mass market Chardonnay is better than the Muscadet I’ve got in my glass. But in most social situations, I don’t see value in being brash or even direct about this.
What would be the point? How many opinions are you going to change by putting down their preference? You just end up coming off worse for no benefit.
I think a better approach is to explain why you like the wine you do, and sell people on its positive qualities. Then maybe they’ll be more open-minded about trying it.
I think he completely missed the issue. The wine industry didn’t create Meiomi as a “starter wine”. Wagner created it because he knew that people like consistency. You buy a Coke in Kentucky or Scotland and it’s going to be the same. So Wagner created a brand. And the people who drink Meiomi are not going to “graduate” to another wine. That’s a myth the wine industry has been telling itself for a long time but I see no evidence whatsoever that it’s correct. Meiomi was the end game itself. And it is not ubiquitous because it was owned by big companies - the big company bought it because it was ubiquitous. It was the other way around.
I think the author sees himself as a savior but he’s actually very condescending.
The way it works in most bars is that the bar wants the liquor. Liquor people are brand loyal. They want Maker’s Mark or Bacardi or whatever. So you buy those and you tell the liquor guy to bring you a couple of reds and a few whites. That’s how the majority of wine gets placed in most bars.
With wine bars it’s a little different but only if the wine bar wants to be known for an eclectic selection. A lot of them are similar, but not necessarily in a bad way. I have a friend. He managed steak houses. He opened a wine bar. It’s a steakhouse wine list all the way - a lot of CA Cabs. Not all bad to be sure, but not very adventurous either. However, the food is good and he gets repeat customers who like Montelena and Wagyu burgers and he’s built a successful business. He doesn’t want a lot of different suppliers and he’s content with what he has.
That’s not Sysco - is cultivating a customer base and giving them what they like.
Yes there’s a Daou and a Phinney and a Wagner wine, and those sell, but there are also a few solid, if mainstream, wines. And that’s OK. The author if the article doesn’t seem to understand the business at all.
Finally, the way you get someone to try another wine is not to condescend. It’s to put a glass in their hand.
That has been my secret. Sample pours of interesting wine have converted to sales at almost a 100% rate. And always with an atmosphere of “Hey, let’s explore a bit and have an adventure!” rather than “I am trying to save the benighted.”
Works for food, too- I put some mole sauce in a sample cup for a customer last night (I would say close to 0% of our locals have ever heard of mole, much less tasted it) and ended up with everyone at her table ordering it. And they ordered a bottle of Ria’s Cab Franc, too, so there’s a knock-on effect.
I get the point, but Coke in the UK is made with sugar vs HFCS here in the US. Enough people care about that difference that Mexican Coke is a fairly big thing in the US.
We can agree to disagree on this, but I don’t see the need to be direct about my preferences all of the time. I know what I like and that’s good enough for me. If someone likes something else and I don’t know them well enough to roast them for it, then so be it.
I think there’s not much use in actually saying the phrase “drink what you like” but the sentiment itself you’re describing here is dead on, imo. Like @Jonathan_Loesberg said earlier, it’s a simple description of reality. Persuasion starts from a position of abundance - that talking about a wine’s positive characteristics doesn’t depend on putting down other wines, no matter how you feel about them.
I wrote a response to this piece a couple of days ago for my newsletter, and I’m glad that a couple of the points I made ended up echoing what some folks have already said on this thread: “Drink What You Like” Isn’t a Suggestion. It’s a Fact.