Some Goode Advice From the author of Authentic Wine:

Normally, I would report to you about the interesting things I’ve learned or contributed to while doing this research. Or perhaps you could have expected my general musings about the pitfalls of transcription, my matured understanding of terroir or (duhn duhn duhn) grève. However, I have had a momentary break from transcription, and though I am back with a vengeance, I will not write about that today. (I will say, however, that if I thought I had something to wine (pun!) about when I was doing the transcription of our interview with Aaron Ayscough, English/American/author/blogger of NotDrinkingPoisonInParis.com, I was really in for a challenge when I started my next interview. It’s mischievously packed with obscure references to winemakers, their protégés, and events that happened while de Gaulle still ran the country)

As always, I’ve digressed. What I do, in fact, want to write about is a particularly interesting chapter of a book a recently read: Authentic Wine (Chapter 13) by Jamie Goode and Sam Harrop. This chapter, ‘Marketing Authentic Wine’ is of particular interest to me because, career wise, I want to do just that: market authentic wine. A somewhat disheartening reality that I faced upon leaving Paris’ wine salons is that natural wine is shamefully hard to come by. This means that perhaps I can carve out a niche and aim to better expose natural wine for what an extraordinary product it is. Goode offers some strategies for how to best do this, however, for now, I will distill his discourse down to the simplest of messages: “Tell the story of authentic wine.” In this post, I will try to illuminate what he means by this, but first, it is important to know the current state of wine marketing.

We have all (well, those of you who frequently drink wine…and I’m assuming you must because you’re still tuning in to these blog entries of mine… et merci d’ailleurs) strutted our way to the wine aisle of our nearest supermarket and been impressed by the variety. ‘So many bottles to choose from…do you feel like Syrah or Shiraz…Are they not the same thing…Maybe I’ll buy the cheaper one…No, I’ll buy this one because the label is cuter.’  We’ve probably all been in that situation or we’ve, at the very least, overheard this genre of deliberation. We are given the impression that there is an endless variety, however, Goode asserts that this is an illusion. In fact, he believes that the wine industry is becoming polarized and that which is found in the middle is losing ground. Tragically, this middle ground, according to Goode, is where the most interesting wines are being made.

So, let’s try to demystify this illusion. Here we are in the super market, facing hundreds, if not thousands of bottles of wine. We’re not even looking at the top-self because it’s far too expensive; we didn’t come to Safeway to spend $87.99 on bottle of wine to take to a party. We also can’t show up with a bottle of $6.99 slop either, so we’re left with what’s in the middle. There is still a plethora of remaining wines in this ‘middle’, so how can Goode claim that the middle is disappearing? It kind of makes you want to say ‘au contraire’ in a very drawn out voice. Well, believe it or not, he really is right. Indeed it looks like there are hundreds of wines, an endless variety, but look closely. How many of these are Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, Chardonnays, Pinot Grigios, Sauvignon Blancs, Pinot Noirs or Syrahs? Probably more than 80% (my estimation, not Goode’s. Take it for what it’s worth). Does that sound like a large number? Maybe yes, maybe no, but keep in mind that there are over 10,000 distinct wine varietals (take a look at DeLong’s varietal map below). So, in reality, we are talking about a shockingly small percentage of total wine diversity.

So, we’ve established that we receive a very narrow exposure when it comes to varietals, but let’s take a look at how wines are marketed. Goode writes, “[There have been] fewer restrictions on labeling and…therefore, [marketers] have been able to capitalize of the consumer’s lack of understanding of the product by breaking marketing down to the simplest messages, variety and brand.” (p.237) Let us phantasmagorically return to this wine aisle and take a peak at how these wines are being sold to us. What information do we have to work with? Well, on the front of the bottle, we’re told the varietal. Maybe (probably) we’re told where the wine is grown in the most general terms i.e. Chile, South Africa. If we turn the bottle around, we might find a description of the wine’s flavor. (These always make my very pragmatic father laugh: ‘An assertive wine with a penchant for sensuality. Allow yourself to get carried off by the smooth aromas, which are both playful and reflective. Savor the delicate hint of red fruits and butterflies.’) Oddly enough, some supermarkets even group their wines by tastes/flavors instead of their place or origin or even their varietal. You can read more about that in this Wall Street Journal Article called ‘Conquering the Wine Aisle’. So, we’re given some information, but what we’re missing (get ready for Goode’s ‘thesis’) is the story of the wine. We know little of the place from which it came, nor how it was made. What life has the wine known? I try to say this with the least lofty, magic-y, Portlandia tone.

Goode believes that it is the story of a wine that really adds to its intrigue. Marketing of wine, until present, has been too concentrated on price promotion, but with these bare figures, we lose the narrative, the soul. Supermarkets cannot continue to promote wines based exclusively on price promotion because, eventually, the producer can’t keep up. Top-shelf competition in supermarkets run their course because of higher prices imposed by the supermarket, coupled with simultaneous increased profit margins (also for the supermarket) that lead to a breaking point for the brands. Goode advises retailers to practice restraint in their cost cutting and margin-hunting; they must build marketing costs into their margins and not pass them off to the production sector. Instead, the story of natural, or as Goode prefers, authentic wines needs to be shared. And, not so coincidentally, these wines make for the best stories. There is a healthy interaction between the human steward and the vines themselves, which illustrates both human faith, restraint and passion and the unique influences of nature. These natural influences are at the heart of terroir. Wines must be marketed for their uniquely beautiful and subtle interplays of soil, climate and geography. Goode offers advice to each ‘actor’ (There’s a liberal arts college word for you) along the viticulture commodity chain.

Let’s start with the winemakers and their wineries. Goode urges winemakers to share their own authentic stories and get them to the retailers, sommeliers and journalists. Then, these subsequent actors need to fastidiously select and recommend authentic wines so that the consumer can understand the difference in quality. Goode writes, “one of the glaring problems for a marketer looking to promote authentic wine is that the majority of consumers lack understanding of what wine is, let alone what authentic wine might be.” (p. 243) Therefore, all actors need to work together to tell these stories.

While reading this book, I thought back to one of my most interesting interviews while in Paris (and needless to say, the most fun one). When interviewing the owners of Viniologi, a Swedish-based company that imports and distributes natural wine from Western Europe to some of Sweden’s top restaurants and wine bars, they echoed a very similar story. Goode would applaud their work. The owners, Daniele Fherm and Antonius Berthagen, share their goal:

‘Today our work is our passion and our vision is to bring forward the living and healthy wines from smaller winemakers, with ideals to make wine with a more natural approach without adding anything into the wines or take away something from its natural terroir.’

They shared in our interview that they want the people drinking the wines that they import to feel as if they can understand the place from where it came.  Their only criticism of the ‘movement’ is that they wish winemakers would grow to be more involved in the promotion of their wines. Again, this hearkens back to the heart of Goode’s message. Everyone needs to be involved in telling the story of authentic wines. He encourages restaurant owners to challenge even their favorite producers to make more natural wines and to challenge one’s importer to get serious about authentic wines. (Maybe they should take a leaf out of Viniologi’s book).

A final point that Goode makes, and a very goode one (second pun of the blog!) is that certifying bodies need to get it together. There are different certifications: Organic, Biodynamic, Nature S.A.N.S, Salmon Safe, Vin de terroir, AOC, AOP, just to name a few. Most consumers, including myself only a few short weeks ago, can’t make sense of all of these different certifying bodies. Which is best? Which is meaningful? These different groups need to emulate what the organic label achieved, which is to find some harmony. A label needs to be recognizable; it needs to have defined standards that assure the customer of the quality that they’re paying for. Consumer recognition is imperative, and in the case of ethically produced goods, it’s also profitable. There has been a surge of interest in environmentally responsible products and consumers are willing to pay more for them. Why, then, might I ask, is there this residual disaccord? And furthermore, a question that has plagued my thoughts since I first heard Jeff Vejr, one of the faces of Sauvage, a wine bar & restaurant in Portland, OR, why aren’t these certifications better displayed? The whole front side of a bottle will be elegantly bare (pretty, but leaving a lot of important space to be utilized) while the back label is inundated with information, and in the corner, you’ll find, for example, a tiny Demeter logo (Demeter is the certifying body in the US that is charge of biodynamic products). We need to bring this to the attention of shoppers! Like me! I want to be able to go to a supermarket and find a biodynamic wine without turning around 1,350 bottles to check whether or not it has some recognizable insignia.

Jeff Vejr, the aforementioned wines men at Sauvage has developed a clever solution to this labeling deficit.  He owns a separate company called Message ON the Bottle™, which seeks to inform the customer immediately about the product, whether it be beer, wine, spirits or olive oil. Take a look at his website with the link provided above. Jeff writes,

‘I’ve had so many people tell me how intimidated they are when standing in front of that wall of bottles at the grocery store, bottle shop, wine shop, or liquor store.  How helpless the feeling can be. I created this ‘necker’ to help companies tell their story better and for the customer to receive more information without even having to pick that bottle up.   We hope our product helps you share your story more effectively or inspires you to try something new.’

So, what sets Jeff apart from another restaurateur with a second job on the side? Well, his third job does the trick. Jeff is also the owner, creator and ‘winesman’ at drinkSNOB.tv. In this case, Jeff has transformed the hoity-toity (or bo-bo as they’d say in France) word, ‘snob’ into a far more interesting acronym. SNOB stands for Sustainable Natural Organic Biodynamic, with the motto, “Drink One. Don’t Be One.” He is doing his part of engaging with producers of authentic wine, importing it to the US, educating the consumer and (you guessed it) telling the story! It’s is absolutely, positively worth checking out this link to one of his recent videos which highlight natural wine producers throughout Western Europe (one of them happens to be a person I met while in Paris, qui savait?)

So, wrapping up: This chapter also delved into a discussion of marketing wine to the next generation, ‘the millennials’, the generation of which I am apart. According to Goode, we millennials rely heavily on our social media outlets. We draw inspiration as much from our peers as from celebrities or specialists. We believe in the power of start-ups and human potential (it’s worth mentioning that Goode believes this comes with the price of huge narcissism and a belief that we deserve privileges we haven’t earned). Nonetheless, we millennials seek to know one another and again, the narrative of authentic wine will appeal to my generation (which is supposedly made of ‘kids’ born between ’81 and ’92). Goode writes, ‘In the future, it will not be scores that sell wines, but stories” (p.239). In this chapter of Authentic Wine he tries to address every actor that can affect the success of this commodity. The part that resonates with me that most is that of the storyteller, the intermediary between producer and consumer. If you’ve read this far, then hopefully I’ve done my part as a storyteller to capture your attention, and you’ve done the part of the consumer to learn about the product. We’re off to a good start…now, be like me, and go get yourself a drink. Santé!