¿Cuál es la gran cosa con España? (Iberian Wines and You)

What's up with Spain, anyway?

And for that matter, Portugal?

I mean... que pasa, dude??!?

Few wine regions are currently as exciting and vibrant as Spain and Portugal. Not too long ago, they were producing wines of specious quality, suffering from a similar Old World wine funk that once engulfed the (now impressive) wine regions like Chianti of Italy.

But now? Now the Iberian peninsula is kicking out quality wines all over the price-point spectrum. I've had killer Vinho Verde and Cava that have made me do a triple-head-take cartoon-style to verify that they really were that cheap. And don't get me started on the screamin' Priorats, aged Madeiras, and vintage Ports that I've tasted. Yowza!

Case in point - just so you don't have to take only the Dude's word for it:

"Spain continues to overperform... the number of truly fine Spanish wines continues to increase, with at least as much excitement at the lower end of the quality scale as at the higher end... Portuguese winemakers have now woken up to the tremendous potential that their country offers, making it a hotbed of innovation." - Tom Stevenson, The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia

BUT... with all of that Iberian awesomeness... why the heck do I find it so hard to consistently recommend good Iberian wines at a decent price point?

I posed that question to the wine blogging world's resident Iberian wine experts, Gabriella and Ryan Opaz of Catavino.net, when I took part in their 2+1 Iberian wine survey. I've reprinted their answer here, as I think it sheds some very interesting light on the marketing situation facing Iberian winemakers and wine distributors today (thanks, guys!). Enjoy...

Mi pregunta: Why are good Iberian wines so damn hard to find in the States? Spain & Portugal are poised to take the wine world by storm in terms of value for money, but most people’s experience with them comes down to seeing a $45 Priorat in their local wine shop and passing it on by, or picking up a $10 Rioja that is plonk and never touching Spanish wine again. Ironically, most of their wines offer incredible quality for the price, except the ones we get here. What’s up with *that*?

Joe, we wish the answer was easier to give. Truth is, there are a lot of Iberian wines available, although we believe the rush to exploit them has been slowed down by the strength of the Euro. Up until this year, everyone wanted a new Iberian wine for their portfolio and were willing to spend a lot of money to obtain them. Today, however, that same money doesn’t go as far. Coupled with this, people are afraid to see Iberian wine as more than “good value”. Many of our best value wines are spreading across the States and selling well, but in the end, it’s time to spend a bit more in order to diversify the availability.

Many of our best value wines are spreading across the States and selling well, but in the end, it’s time to spend a bit more in order to diversify the availability.

Then, there is the country specific problem, i.e. nationalism. Spain will never have the ability to market itself as a brand, no matter how much Wines of Spain tries and fails. There are too many distinct cultures and political divisions throughout Spain for this to work. Thus, Spain will always end up having fragmented marketing campaigns that will never fully co-operate to achieve good, unified branding.

Portugal, on the other hand, is set to overtake Spain, because at least they can have a “brand Portugal”, but sadly, a lot of their brand equity is tied up in the Port houses, and it’s not easy to convince them that they should help the smaller appellations. Additionally, Portugal has a confusing system of Appellations, where you have the highest “quality wine” category (DOC) falling below the wines of the “lower” regional wine category (VR). We don’t think it hurts the retail sector, per se, but it does hurt the in country’s organization and how it presents itself. The final factor that that weakens “brand Portugal”, is the overwhelming presence of the Vinho Verde, Douro and Alentejo regions. Until the smaller regions gain a little spotlight, these main three big guys will always overshadow the smaller ones.

Spain will always end up having fragmented marketing campaigns that will never fully co-operate to achieve good, unified branding.

Think of it this way. French wine is considered good, with wines of quality coming from Bordeaux, CDP, Burgundy, etc. Here, Rioja wine is great, which happens to be from Spain. Port wine is historic, but that is from the English (seriously people have told me this). Vinho Verde is fresh and vibrant. Cava is the “other sparkling wine”. Clearly, we’re fragmented. Portugal and Spain both need to be known for great wine. As you say, people see the $45 Priorat, and only associate it with the region, but never the country.

You can read the entire article over at Catavino.net.

For more on Spanish wines, you can check out The New Spain by John Radford.

Cheers!

(images: catavino.net, about.com, wine.pt)

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Who Cares What We Think? (The Influence of the Internet in the World of Wine)

So, really - who cares what I think?

Maybe not too many wine consumers.

According to a new Pew Internet study report, the Internet has a small influence on consumers' buying decisions when compared to offline channels (like recommendations from salespeople, friends, etc.). That includes Internet sites like, oh, for example, 1WineDude.com.

Hmm... maybe I should be putting a little more time & effort into my off-line consulting...

Anyway, according to the Pew report (which, to be fair, measured on-line impact on purchases of music, housing, and cell phones only):

"No more than one-tenth of buyers... said that online information had a major impact on their purchasing decision."

Well... crap!...

And here I've been trying to steer wine consumers right and not realizing the whole time that nobody is listening (er - I mean, reading).

What's also interesting (assuming you still might care what I think at this point) in the Pew report is the gap between those who actively contribute to the on-line dialog (by submitting reviews, for example), and those that simply consume the information:

"The large gaps between contributors and readers are understandable; not all consumers
are interested in lending their voice and many may be content to free ride on the efforts of
others. However, with the growth of broadband adoption at home and the buzz about
online participation in a Web 2.0 world, widespread activity in this arena might be
expected. Yet the data in this report do not show this; there is clearly a distance between the numbers of those who contribute and those who lurk."

I can't say I'm too surprised by that finding. In my experience, especially with people of my g-g-g-g-generation, I've found that there is a need to consume information via the Internet, but very little drive to create that information themselves.

Case in point: my friends will tease me about the number of websites that I maintain (official number: too many), and in the same conversation will ask me why I've not updated one of the websites in the past 3 days.

They want to consume - they just feel that it's someone else's place to author that content. Is this "The Architecture of Non-Participation?"

Deep down I'm a skeptical guy - which in my twisted in mind is being patriotic (hey, the U.S. was founded by a bunch of skeptics!) - but I gotta admit, deep down I am also feeling like wine is different.

I know, I know - wishful thinking, right?

But hear me out (if you still care what I think, that is): Buying wine is different than buying music or a cell phone, because wine is meant to be shared. By its nature it's a social beast, to be enjoyed with others. It's one of the few goods we can buy that actually becomes an event unto itself. A cell phone can be nifty but it's probably not going to be a lubricant for life. And try sharing your cell phone with someone else without going totally insane.

If you take a look at social networking websites like the Open Wine Consortium, Corkd.com, and CellarTracker.com, you will find lots of wine consumers willing to share their views, reviews, and recommendations. I would find it hard to believe that those interactions don't influence the wine buying decisions of consumers somehow.

And wouldn't it be great if, instead of wine distribution monopolies, stuffy media mags, and 2 or 3 critics dictating nearly all of our wine purchasing choices, we actually influenced each other and helped each other out based on our own experiences of wines that we thought actually tasted great?

But then again, who cares what I think?


Cheers!

(images: thoomp.com, allposters.com, imagechef.com)

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A PLCB Moment

Because it's been about a week since I railed against them. And you've gotta keep those people on their toes, right?

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Give us free! - Part II

Some of you out there may recall my previous posting on efforts in the wine world to provide more equitable wine sales to consumers throughout the U.S. For the uninitiated, or those that are clever and/or fortunate enough to live in States that do not restrict wine sales: I live in PA, which houses one of the largest and most anachronistic 3-tier wine sales systems in the country; the end result being that to obtain a wine I really want, I either

1. have to buy it from a state-run liquor store (assuming the carry it, since they limit choice to what they can buy most cheaply) or
   
2. if not available directly in the store, special-order it so that it is shipped to the store (and not to me), paying an upcharge to the PLCB for the "privilege" or
3. drive to DE and buy from their more-competitively-priced, larger, and all-around supieror selection (technically this is a crime, and is also my preferred method).

In fairness, I should point out that it's not in all cases that the PLCB has the highest prices for wines. It's only in most cases, due mostly to the added taxes. And, as fellow PA blogger David McWherter pointed out when he did some comparison shopping on PLCB v. non-PLCB wine prices, price is not the only obstacle to PA wine-lovers created by the PLCB:

• Only in one case did the PLCB have the best price available. In about half the wines, the PLCB was competitive --- within 10% of the best price available, but the other half, the prices were significantly higher. If you have to buy your wine, buy it when you're not in Pennsylvania. You'll get a better selection and (if you look for it) a better price. Of course, almost NONE of the wines listed above could actually be purchased at a PLCB store near me, even though I could buy those wines online if I lived in Ohio.
  Full article here.
  

I've recently been checking out another gem of a web resource in the fight against all of this monopolistic madness - the Wine Without Borders Blog. Check it out - and, if you suffer in a state with Communist practices like mine, consider donating to their cause!

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