Towards the end of the last class, I asked Pete Mondavi a question regarding the durability of European style table wine as the preferred consumer preference in the United States. I wanted to understand why wine making in the United States switched from sweeter, fortified wines to drier style of still wine like those popular in Europe. Mr. Mondavi voiced a convincing response arguing that wine styles produced in the United States would likely remain in line with those styles preferred by Europeans. As part of his answer he mentioned the moscato phenomenon of the the early 2010s as evidence of some consumer affinity for sweeter style wines. This aside made me curious about the moscato phenomenon more generally. Why was moscato so popular in the early 2010s and what accounted for its fall from grace (N.B. by "grace" I refer to its popularity with consumers--from what I understand, many serious wine critics never caught the moscato bug).
As I'm sure you all know, Moscato, is a sweet, lower-alcohol (commonly 5% ABV) wine originally produced from the muscat grapes of Italy. The wine surged in popularity beginning in 2011. Its rise in popularity is often attributed to its popularity with trend setters in the hip hop industry. By 2012, moscato overtook Sauvignon Blan as the "3rd most sold wine in the United States" However, by 2016 "moscato fell to the 13th most popular wine by sales volume." What accounts for the moscato bust? Is it possible that overplanting and mass production caused the wine to lose its characteristic qualities that made it popular in the first place? Or rather, did the wine just fall from grace due to the lack of sustained promotion from pop cultural trend setters?
Will rose suffer the same consequences as moscato?
P.S.
Mr. Mondavi didn't really address the first part of my question, which was why fortified wine was popular in the States in the first place. Would love to hear the answer if anybody knows.
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