One Bright Spot Amid the Industry’s Gloom: Natural Wine

I have been saying this here for many years. Whether you like natural wine or not is irrelevant, there is much to be learned from how the Natural wine world has attracted a younger demographic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/dining/drinks/natural-wine.html

I’m all for the youngs saving the industry but my good bud who sells these wines for ages says it’s really awful out there.

Feels like this article hides reality a bit.

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Speaking of which, and connecting to the other thread on German consumers, just came across this fascinating article that dates the emergence of 19th century natural wine to Germany, in reaction to the rise of deacidification, which helped Mosel wineries produce less sour wines, but also obliterate terroir in the views of some.

Without a doubt! If Eric would have talked to winemakers he would have heard a different story.

Still does not change the basic point that the Natural wine world had done a lot right.

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*a lot of marketing right

It is great marketing, but rarely great wine. And like much of great marketing, it is more good timing than good thinking.

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My favorite restaurant in Centro here in Mérida is Natural wines only. Big cocktail program there as well. Interesting speaking with leadership at Agua de Mar about their growth when moving vino, almost always to their younger diners.

And me of course. LOL.

In an essay for Mosel Wine, Kevin Goldberg wrote about this topic. It’s titled “Ravages to Riches: Mosel Wine’s Long Nineteenth Century.” In my own essay, which follows his, I wrote about “The Heyday of Mosel Wine in the 1890s.”

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Bright? It’s more like a cloudy, smelly, fuzzy spot.

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I think a product consciously marketed as “cool” and “anti-establishment” is going to appeal to a younger crowd, and that’s especially apparent in places like New York. But that also makes its appeal inherently limiting.

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Can you please name the wines that are great? I believe a lot of natural wines are fabulous if taken in context to the idea that many are not long term aging wines.

Even if this is a true statement, most consumers aren’t looking for “great”. WB’ers, sure. Most of the rest of humanity is satisfied with good or not terrible.

How do you define natural wine? To illustrate my thinking, go to RAW WINE and drink through all of the tables, not just the big-ish names. A large portion is flawed to the point of undrinkable (mouse, excessive VA, etc.). Some will be fine or enjoyable. Maybe five wines (not producers) will be great. Many of the better natural producers are not going to RAW so that percentage is an exaggeration of the market as a whole, but there is a lot of bad natural wine out there.

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This was a delight on a menu with caviar & sweetbreads.

Me and Melinda enjoy this light touch on Syrah, since it’s too warm here for any heavy presentation.

Colombard may be Mexico’s most interesting white grape but this German Gamay was a show stopper.

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our data proves this out, even in NYC.

the trend and category relevance is undeniable.

but from a business standpoint, it is part of a whole.

should you feature natural wines at your bar or restaurant? most likely, yes. there’s a dedicated cohort of your potential customers that request and expect it.

should they dominate the lists? most likely, no. not only is it a limited cohort, but it cuts off the majority of other customers looking for more traditional wines, and (more important?) eager to spend for them. natural wine’s products and consumers are an inherently limiting factor in maximizing spend and revenues. there are diners coming to your restaurant that want to spend and you’re making it more difficult for them to do so.

i don’t know what the magic ratio is and likely never will, but if a list is dominated by natural wines, that’s a very specific business decision that cuts off most of the market (in the great majority of cases).

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I’m not getting into the never ending defining game. I believe we all have a general idea what NW is, especially since you feel it’s mostly crap. You said NW is rarely great. Please name the great ones. I’m truly curious what your opinion is. As for marketing, many of these wineries can’t afford marketing, so please provide some examples. Then you stated “Maybe five wines (not producers) will be great.” At this point you’re just spewing nonsense. I’ve been to RAW multiple times. The Austrian section alone had 5 producers that were great imho. The regions of Friuli and the Loire alone produce a ton of great NWs. In fact, I believe, many of the best wines in just these two regions are NWs.

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I disagree. There are lots of great. Lots of bad too.

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DRC is natural wine.

But it is not “natural wine”

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It is a good scheme to feed the ego of the younger crowd. As someone who is part of this crowd…

They love anything that is “insider knowledge” that can only be gleaned from Instagram…

They also love the “authenticity” that can only come from a made up story on social media…

And the biggest feeder of the ego is the fact that they know all of this novel awesome shit that those idiot GenXers, who are not “online”, could never know

***Online; A person who relies on pictures and comment feeds to derive at least 99% of their knowledge and viewpoints on all topics

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I’m not in the demographic being discussed here, but I also find it amazing how predictably this board looks down on natural wine and those who drink it. The vibe is very “stupid kids only liking something because it’s marketed as cool or anti-establishment.” That only goes so far and won’t garner a lot of repeat customers if they don’t actually enjoy the product. Young people aren’t inherently stupid, or at least aren’t inherently any more stupid than the average consumer. Of course, I guess the average consumer likes Meomi and Caymus so perhaps that is an inapt comparison. Some natural wines are flawed, but many are pleasant and refreshing in a very immediate and accessible way. Many won’t have the complexity that board members find a necessary component of greatness, and many tend towards a sameness that we may find unexciting. However, for a beverage to drink now, many of these very direct, forward wines which don’t pretend to greatness are likely more enjoyable to drink at the point in time they are offered by restaurants and bars and shops than are many of the wines we’d collectively consider great. Immediacy without being purple drank is maybe kind of a good thing for the average wine consumer.

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This is the phrase that pays. Some of the better premium wines we seek out here are offered far too young on a restaurant list.

The other issue it solves on a restaurant list is that they are likely some of the more affordable options

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