Ningxia and Mondavi

The New Yorker has an interesting story on Ningxia, an emerging wine region in China. It's one that connects with this week's theme of brand management, and draws parallels to Mondavi's brand development: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/can-wine-transform-chinas-countryside

The article describes the history of Ningxia, and juxtaposes its historical "backwardness" with its emergence as an increasingly successful wine-producing region. It's a story that shows a transformation of a community in the process of engaging with a completely foreign product.

Most interestingly, the article describes the multiplicity of purposes of wine producing for the region and its people. The author first describes how government edicts and politics influenced the wine import business in China. After the premier toasted the national congress with wine in 1996, for example, wine exports soared. In addition, the local governments wanted to support wine production, especially those along rivers that had the resources to grow grapes. In part, this was seen as a typical status symbol deriving from connections with Western products.

But wineries were also seen as positive for the powerful local governments. For one, the governments had strong incentives to grow the wine business big and fast to collect more taxes. In addition, the wineries would serve as tourist attractions as the Ningxia region chased the concept of "the Bordeaux of China". The region constructed faux chateaus that would serve as focal points for tourists, similar to Mondavi's plan to draw people into his winery with art and music.

Yet, the initial success in China was also an opportunity for counterfeit wines to surface. Often people would take old bottles and fill them up with fake wine. This was easy, because people didn't know what it was supposed to taste like, so fake producers could get away with it.

This story connects well with our theme this week of brand management. In particular, this region seems to be doing a good job defining itself as a superior place to grow wine. This is in part reflected in the awards it has won, such as the top award in its category at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Yet, it still struggles with how to define itself and price in a way that maximizes value.

One of the challenges of the region will be to focus the brand, and not fall into the trap of overextended brand expansion that Mondavi seems to have fallen into. This will be made more difficult as the region becomes more successful and more inexperienced copycats want to join the market. Perhaps the local or national government will get involved at some point to certify or classify wines to help world consumers determine quality – after all, China's authoritarian government would make this much easier than in Western countries.

Virginia wine (part 1 of 2)

I spent last weekend back in Charlottesville, Virginia to show off to a few friends the beautiful and booming Virginia wine, beer, and cider industry. Or, as I came to learn, the Virginia wine and beer industry, as cider is legally classified as wine. Because there is just so much about Virginia wine that I'm excited to talk about, I'm writing this blog post in 2 parts: (part 1) the mind-blowing growth of the Virginia wine industry and (part 2) Virginia craft cider and its (possibly) inevitable nation-wide expansion. So...


Part 1: The Mind-blowing Growth of the Virginia Wine Industry

Most (if not all) of you heard me gush over the Virginia wine industry for my mid-term presentation. In summary, in case you missed it, demand for Virginia wine is far outpacing supply. And the number of wineries and vineyards is exploding. When I graduated from UVA 3 years ago, I thought I was experiencing this "crazy demand." But boy, was I wrong.

This weekend, when I walked in the door to Veritas Vineyards, I nearly bowled over a group of people standing in the doorway. "Bad place to stand," I thought, until I saw that they were merely in a line that extended all the way to the door for a tasting. The place was packed. I had never seen Veritas even close to that crowded before, and assumed there must be an event going on. But, according to the staff, that was a "slow weekend these days."

At only $10 a tasting (for 7 wines), wine tasting at Veritas is a great deal. Several of their wines have won top awards recently. Personally, I found most of their wines both unique in taste (versus the rest of the US) and of even higher quality than I remembered. Their current winemaker, daughter of the original owners who moved here from England to open a passion project, recently started to much acclaim. And, the property is beautiful. But, these advantages extend to many of the wineries around Virginia. According to the staff at the property, the massive demand wasn't just a Veritas problem, "it's all of the wineries."

What Virginia may lack in Napa reputation, it makes up with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and high quality, affordable, and exciting wines. There's also nothing quite like a Virginia Viognier. Don't disregard Virginia wine country - it's on the way up!

Decoding How We Order Wine

One of my closest friends has worked in the food and wine industry since high school. She has seen all ranges across the “fancy” spectrum and has spent a lot of time learning the translations that she needs for understanding what people are actually asking for when they order wine. I asked her for a brief overview of how people order.

People most commonly order varietals or ask for something based on a region they like. The follow-up questions then has to be whatever they haven’t already answered – she said, “you have to ask follow-up questions to figure out what KIND of Bordeaux they usually drink since its frequently a blend or WHERE their favorite [sauvignon blanc] is from because one from Marlborough will be zesty and green versus an Italian one I'm working with right now is actually quite round and has a little bit of oak on it.”

The most common question she gets asked is if a wine is dry or not – “which for someone in wine,” she said, “is always a funny question because almost ALL wine is dry, with the exception of dessert wines that will typically be in a separate section of the menu.” Usually, people are trying to ask if a wine is fruity, but that can be hard because they can like a wine that is fruity if it is also well balanced. Ultimately, “it takes a lot of work and basically just knowing your list and how your wines measure up to others on the market.”

A final piece advice she gave is, “especially in high end restaurants where the staff really know their stuff, [it’s a mistake] to not give a price range up front when you ask for a suggestion. I really wont judge if your price range is under $100 or under $50 or whatever, I'm gonna help you find something great, but it's super helpful to have that jumping off point. 

Red Wine and Migraines

When I was 23 I learned that I could no longer drink red wine as it began giving me debilitating (what doctors call “complex”) migraines. I used to LOVE red wine, in fact cabernet sauvignon was my drink of choice before I discovered my first migraine.  And if it was just a harsh headache, I’d treat myself now and then to a glass and pop some Advil, but nope, when I drink red wine half of my body goes numb, I lose vision and can’t speak. So, at least for now the migraines win and there is no future that includes me and red wine consumption, that is at least until doctors get a handle on the causes of migraine headaches, which surprisingly given how many people suffer from them, we know very little about.

Allow me to elaborate. Even though doctors helped me figure out that red wine (and a number of other migraine inducing foods) were in fact causing my migraines (via a system of elimination) they really can’t explain what exactly it is in red wines that causes my body to react the way it does.  There are hypotheses that it is the tannins in the wine and others who say the histamines are to blame but they do not know for sure which component causes what reaction in each individual.  

So, if you ever happen to get a crazy headache after drinking too much vino (not to be confused with a hangover, trust me you will know the difference) try taking a break from red wine and seeing if you like the other 37 million US migraine sufferers are sensitive to a migraine inducing food/drink. Don’t worry if you are one of these people – luckily white wine exists and causes none of the migraine effects.

French attitudes toward wine

I came across an interesting article this morning detailing a bit of a backlash against health authorities in France.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/in-france-is-wine-still-a-national-treasure-or-is-it-a-health-risk/2018/03/05/729dfd74-2082-11e8-946c-9420060cb7bd_story.html?utm_term=.95afa26d4f97

Critics of the large amount of wine consumption in France are calling for more restrictions around wine and alcohol in general. According to the WHO, "French people over the age of 15 consume 3.2 gallons of “pure alcohol” per capita each year on average". These critics cite alcohol as the source of domestic violence, suicide, and accidental death, and are calling for health organizations to stop recommending alcohol "in moderation" and instead plainly state that alcohol (including wine) is just bad for your health. 

Macron, standing strong with the wine industry, insists that wine is perfectly fine and that he has wine with lunch and dinner every day. Interestingly, he says that there may be health effects from drinking spirits or beer, but not with wine. This is particularly curious, since wine has higher alcohol content than beer.  

I found it interesting to see this health movement in a country that holds wine so closely to it's national identity. It will be interesting to see how calls for public health interplay with the economics of the French wine industry and national identity in France.