The most significant “barriers to entry” for the wine hobby have to do with the laws of your individual state–whether you can buy over the Internet or whether you have to buy from a local retailer. If the latter, then it’s largely a function of the depth & breadth of the wines offered by your local retailers.
I’ve been into this hobby for several years, and on a macro level the barriers have declined as long as you’re not trying to buy/taste wines like the First Growths or other “trophy” wines. But if you set a price level of $50, for example, the typical budding wine consumer has access to a much broader range of wines and wine styles than I did starting out in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
But, that’s not a barrier to entry. Quite the contrary. All the geeky information is readily available and the (near) best equipment can be purchased. I’d assume there’s a similarity there to what happened with mountain climbing, where people buy their way in, bypassing proficiency.
I live in Googletown and know people who’ve bought their way into the wine hobby. Some have dived into the geeky end and taste broadly, others have no interest to taste other than “the best”. Having the resources can lessen the learning curve, but it doesn’t come close to eliminating it. On the other hand, there are more well-made, affordable and interesting wines available than ever. There’s less of a barrier than ever to explore wines on a budget.
My own experience was knowing there were a lot of garbage wines I had no interest in buying, a few “good enough” wines that I’d occasionally buy, and I’d had a few amazing wines that were cost prohibitive. Adjusting for my means, the lowest priced wines I found intriguing were the equivalent of $500 today. That’s quite a barrier. Then, 22 years ago, I discovered there were quite affordable exciting wines. That immediately made wine a prime interest of mine. The last two decades have seen a transformation that break down the barriers to catching the bug. Consumption is up and the stigma of drinking wine is down. Sure, most wine consumers will never transform into geeks, but with more of them and more exposure to better and more interesting wines, more will (and are).
On the other hand, there are more well-made, affordable and interesting wines available than ever. There’s less of a barrier than ever to explore wines on a budget.
That’s sort of the key. There is a lot more information around, but it’s also a lot more widely available. There are also many more wines around and mostly they’re more available.
It is probably true that it’s harder to get the wines that have traditionally been considered among the best, because there’s a fixed number of those and an increase in the number of people seeking them. So a lot of people who don’t have Silicon Valley money will never be able to taste some of those and in that sense, there’s a real barrier to entry, but it’s not a barrier to wine in general, just a barrier to the wines that were considered standards several decades ago.
Maybe it all depends on what you’re looking for. Certain wines are nearly unavailable to most people. But wine in all of its diversity is far more available than ever. You can drink broadly or narrowly, acquire a lot of information or a little, and find a spot that is just right for you.
I think becoming an enthusiast is easier today than in the past due to the fact that majority the information one needs is a click away…so much quicker and accessible