From Gambero Rosso
Wine grape prices (Italy specfic) are expected to plummet in 2025. Here are the appellations that will suffer the most.
" From -40% for Brunello to -20% for Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The upward harvest forecasts have depressed prices. The paradox? The gap between ordinary wines and denomination wines is narrowing."
Not only does sweet sell but also fruit forward sells . . .
And folks here on WB that say that those types of wines are not for members of the WB community have blinders on . . .
Cheers
It looks to me like sales are still higher than peak Parker…so the decline is not yet down to what Parkerisation brought to the table.
No disrespect but this is a bit of a stretch to my biased eyes.
But it’s worth considering what his personality brought to wine sales. The Advocate and the Wine Spectator both brought a huge amount of enthusiasm to wine.
I think the reaction to critical review has evolved since then. And while we have a very good set of wine critics at the moment, there are so many more ways that consumers get information on wines that reviewers like Parker simply don’t wield as much impact now. Which is good in it’s own way, but when WS and WA was in their heyday they were like the candy store arriving in your mailbox.
Todays consumer also has marketing bs coming at them six ways to Sunday so I feel like people are less prone to running after the latest and greatest. Well, except for me of course….
Going to go Devil’s Advocate here Larry and say that a lot of consumers simply aren’t this simple and too many wineries running this as their thought process are likely to be contributing to consumers disinterest.
If for no other reason than few people read, “people like sweet, and forward fruit too” and think to themselves, “wow, I should get into wine since it’s about sweet things and pandering to me…”. Seriously, wineries should consider that many first time wine drinkers may prefer forward fruit but that 90% of people who get into wines move beyond that at some point.
Case in point, in my 20s as a bartender, I hated Campari, saw no use for sweet Vermouth, and felt gin was mostly the liquor of my parents generation. By my mid-30s I had realized that the Negroni was my fall/winter desert island cocktail and shared the spring/summer with a really great margarita. And Cynar is the most frequent purchase we make at the liquor store.
Shooting at the spot where people begin their journey is liable to get one left behind fairly quickly.
That isn’t just for this board. All it takes for someone new to wine to ditch their residual sugar, no tannin, fat fruit, 14%+ abv wine is someone opening a really great bottle of almost anything else.
Edited for a crazy amount of typos…even for me.
That reminds me, I need a Negroni.
While the tarrifs at 15% of the value are another discussion, the exicise tax on wines is already very low, just pennies on the gallon. So lowering it more will not help.
Comming back to the point of this chat, I certainly have seen a major drop in wine consumption, especially afger Covid. I see a lot of people talking about the three tier system and restaurant prices, all of which could help. But I think the Robb report article above nails the bigger problem "[quote=“Tom_Chen, post:243, topic:341923”]
One of the major differences between Europe and the United States is that wine is seen as an important component in the cultural fabric of countries such as France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal, while it holds a less-esteemed role on our shores.
[/quote]
Younger people are drinking less wine. I see it in my house, many of the adult children who come over will drink some wine, when I serve it. But it is not part of their everyday life. It is not part of their cultural fabric. I have personally tried to encourage it but how do we do this on a larger scale.
Great points and I agree . . .
But as was just stated, wine is not nor has it ever been part of the ‘culture’ in the US for most people.
Yes, a good number of folks think - what bottle of wine will be on the dinner table tonight . . . But my guess is that the vast majority of folks in the US do not think that way at all. They may never ‘get into’ wine, and to them, they are not missing a thing.
Just another way of loooong at it . . .
Cheers
No offence Larry but those people aren’t really part of this thread.
Fixing the problems in the wine industry is either re-energizing the enthusiasm for wine in existing consumers and adding new ones from the pool of people for whom wine isn’t part of their culture.
For people whom wine isn’t part of their culture, it’s unlikely, IMO, to get them into enjoying wine by going the sweet and fruity route. Which is different than selling them a bottle of cheap wine every so often that they have no attachment to.
Reference “three tier system and restaurant prices”!
I don’t ever speak for the WB community (whatever that is). I try to buy wines I will like. Similarly, I buy the types I apple or fish or pears or cheese that I like best, not what the WB community likes best.
Many on here truly think that they do ‘speak’ as if our community is a single voice or acts a certain way. And no, not calling out any one person at all here.
I believe we have a very diverse community here - but most remain lurkers for many reasons . . . including the fact that they may actually enjoy many of the wines that get panned here regularly.
And though your statement about drinking what you drink and liking what you like seems so ‘common sensible’, I believe there are many who don’t. Sad but true.
Cheers.
If all the wines I ever bought cost $20, I’d be able to afford a Lamborghini. 
Count me in the same category. Ive spent a few decades learning what I like and have spent immeasurable sums on them. I dont drink every day. Typical week is one or two bottles. When I drink I want to drink what I like and know I will like.
Early in the journey I tried lots of different things. I was never one to buy cases of wine I never tasted because someone said it was good or even worse just because it was a good deal. I think looking back that has served me well as Ive never been in the position of selling off a lot of my cellar because I didnt like the wine in it anymore or perhaps even ever.
I think the rise of online retailing with slick marketing messages is a challenge for the industry and promote groupthink. I had the benefit of brick and mortar retailers that offered regular tasting opportunities and those are increasingly rare.
Ive been to many large scale tasting events but those often turn into drunk fests with a significant portion just there to get drunk rather than those with a genuine interest who are there to taste and learn. I worry the further shift to online sales only hurts the industry more
The more I think about this and relate it to my own journey, the truer it sounds.
Bartles and Jaymes sold a lot of wine coolers, but they probably didn’t create many wine enthusiasts. Same with Meiomi. When the fad is over, where do all those sales go?
Hard seltzer unfortunately…
It had nothing to do with my appreciation for wine, but I’ve always admired the founders of California Cooler, two high school buddies from Lodi who expanded their brand like crazy then sold for big bucks just before the big corporations flooded the market. One of them now owns Alder Springs vineyard (I think still owns it).
-Al
I agree. I think the majority of the problems in wine come down to shortsightedness. Lots of people trying to see what they can get out of wine, and not what they can offer it. There is a good quote from Thomas Sowell “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”
Obviously the mass produced stuff is chasing fads, but lots of winemakers today are trying to make wines that can “sell”, and store owners are trying to put things on the shelf that sell themselves. Even the big shift to fresher and lighter wines, which I love, is often happening simply because that’s what the consumer is asking for. At least that is what a bunch of winemakers have told me has caused them to shift.
IMO as a winemaker, a store owner, or even a collector, I think we are artists, that need to find a way to express our vision. The wines you make, the wines you sell, and even the wines that are patiently waiting in your cellar, should say something about you and what your vision is. Many people in the wine industry today, don’t have a vision, and it is simply about getting through the day.
I am very thankful that many people who have contributed, and many that still do, to my increasing passion have had visions that they put out on display in whatever way they did.
Hell I’m drinking more than I thought! You’re all welcome 