2 Weeks in a French Vineyard

I, like many people, had a rather romantic impression of working in a vineyard: along the meandering slopes and the meticulously planted lines of grapes, a vintner would stroll pass her prized old vines, with a glass in her hand, and later sit down by the porch of her estate for a platter of cheese and prosciutto, followed by a nice fiesta under the afternoon sun...

With that impression in mind, I gladly signed up for a two-week volunteering gig at a French vineyard in Languedoc-Roussillon, a southern French region known for hearty table wines. The vineyard was situated around a 14th century chapel (still in use today), and planted 13 hectares of typical southern French varietals (Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsault, Carignan, etc.). Here's me on day of arrival:

(Careful what you wish for!)

It was late spring / early summer when I arrived, so the grapes were just starting to grow. I had 2 jobs (mostly): to prune the grape vines and cut off excessive grapes (to control yield / concentrate flavor in remaining grapes), and to trellis the weaker grape vines so they don't get destroyed by the storms. Picture below is me cutting off tiny grains of grapes on the vine (sad! but important for making good quality wine). 

(Shoop, shoop)

I thought it was a pretty fun job in the first hour, not as much when the second hour hit, and my whole body started aching in the third hour from the constant bending down and standing up. The scorching sun in southern France didn't help either - it would be 50 degrees in the morning when I started working, but 80s when it got closer to noon. By the time I finish my 8-hour day, I'd be lying exhausted in bed... 

(Already exhausted after half a day) 

It was southern France so the weather was extremely unpredictable, and the storms could sneak up on you before you knew it. One morning it was sunny like the picture above, but the clouds gathered within half an hour, and soon the wind was roaring through the field and the rain pouring from the sky. The owner of the vineyard and I had to stay in the field for another 2 hours in the storm to finish trellising the weaker vines and save them from getting totally destroyed. From that day on, I gained a whole new level of appreciation of the comfort of an office job... 

However, the hard work came with priceless rewards. I got to bottle my first bottle of wine from the cellar and took it home as a present. The owner opened a bottle from 1990, my birth year, and taught me a lot about the history of her family's winemaking heritage. And after a week's work, I got to relax on the weekend and enjoy a bucolic brunch like this one: 

And I made a new friend: 

Remember I said that the 14th century chapel was still in use? I was very lucky to have caught a concert inside the chapel during my stay. The acoustics were amazing. 

All told, it was a rough two weeks from a physical stand point, but time extremely well spent and rewarding. The work on the field taught me how hard it was to grow and make wine, and helped me appreciate wine from a whole new perspective. I was humbled by the dedication and diligence of the winemakers, and moved by their sacrifice and pride. 

(My first bottle of rose!) 

(Not) Sponsored by Vinebox

As much as I hate online advertising,  I'm a sucker for good clickbait. And Internet Big Brother has figured out how much I love wine. Which is why they pushed a wine advertisement to me...and also why I clicked on it:

Vinebox.

By the glass, monthly wine club. Great, unique wines that probably haven't hit Safeway shelves. In pretty vials with educational cards. They had my attention.

While I didn't buy it for myself (already guilty about my bi-yearly wine club shipment...), it got me thinking about the model for selling wine by the glass. When I consider my own wine habits, it makes a lot of sense:

• I like the "discovery" in trying a new wine / from a new place / etc.
• I want to drink a glass with dinner sometimes...but no more
• I hate feeling like I wasted good wine when it spoils

Additionally, buying a bottle can feel like an investment - wine by the glass feels like a treat.

I've seen other versions of wine-by-the-glass in grocery stores (Underwood cans comes to mind) but the format doesn't seem to have proliferated outside of a few select brand / wine clubs. But I wonder, as consumers shift towards more sustainable products (and packaging for that matter), as smaller wineries fight to get in front of consumers, as the food / beverage industry feeds a growing consumer preference for innovation, if we will see more wineries signing up for wine-by-the-glass clubs, or experimenting with packaging. 

Wouldn't it be nice if you could open a wine "flight" with dinner, instead of a bottle? As long as retailers can keep the formatting affordable, I would bet on seeing more from this space in the next few years! 

The Legality of Wine Trade within Latin America

After thinking about the legal obstacles that NVL faced in the United States, I was curious whether NVL might have luck abroad, specifically in Latin America.

In 2012, Euromonitor released a report that showed that the trade in illegal alcohol in six Latin American countries accounted for 25.5% of the region's total market by volume and 14.1% by value. These six countries include Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Peru. These numbers represent a loss to the legal trade of US $736M.

While consumer awareness of this issue has been improving, the issue has been difficult to combat. On average, retail prices of illegal products are 30.3% lower. In addition, counterfeit products are often priced similarly and sold side-by-side with legal, authentic products making them hard to detect. Governments in these countries have done little to improve industry regulations or even enforce existing laws, despite the millions of annual tax revenues they are losing as a result of the illegal trade.

Given that consumers in the region do seem to have the desire to purchase responsibly and legally, there may be an opportunity for NVL to improve the process and facilitate the ease of legal alcohol purchases. Governments should theoretically welcome NVL with open arms since it will increase their revenues from taxes and reduce illegal activity in their countries with little investment or action on their part.

That said, a drawback would be that the LatAm consumer may end up capturing more of the value than the U.S. consumer. This would depend on how far consumer responsibility and desire for product authenticity could drive consumer behavior. If consumers are willing to pay 30% more for an authentic, legal product, value capture in the value chain may not need to change much. If consumers aren't willing to pay the higher price, then some or many parts of the value chain would need to sacrifice a piece of their value captured in order to drive consumer purchases at lower prices.

Sources:
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2014/05/illicit-alcohol-trade-in-latin-america-worth-2bn/
https://blog.euromonitor.com/2015/10/the-illegal-alcoholic-beverages-market-in-six-latin-american-countries-2014.html