There are many reasons the wine industry is struggling at the moment—oversupply, competition from spirits and beer, concerns about health, etc.
But I think there is another factor coming into play—a disconnect between what people want in a wine and what the wine industry can supply. It is widely reported that wine lovers want stories because stories provide an emotional connection between producer and consumer. But industry consolidation and modern forms of finance have ensured that, despite the verbiage in wine marketing materials, most wines are made by massive, faceless corporations whose only real concern is their balance sheet. The wines may be good because the wine conglomerates have the resources to guarantee quality, but they lack the romance that has always been part of wines’ attraction.
The old story of a winemaking family reaching back generations—the story that used to give us an emotional connection to a producer—is worn out and largely a fabrication. The fact that descendants of several generations of winemakers now own a few hundred shares of stock in the corporation that owns the winery is meaningless unless grandpa is still making his morning rounds checking fermentation temperatures. The fact that all those generations of success provide the capital to buy the juice they need to correct for vintage variation and to fly in armies of consultants to do their blending just doesn’t make an emotional connection.
Neither does the story of the wealthy corporate lawyer who had an extra $50 million lying around to buy the best vineyards, the latest technology, and the best talent coming out of UC Davis. There is nothing wrong with that but there is nothing emotionally bonding about it either.
What is emotionally bonding and inspirational is someone with a personal vision of what wine should be like and the personal conviction to struggle against long odds to make that vision a reality. It’s the winemaker as “farmer artist,” who can transform nature with her own hands into something sublime, that is still alluring.
Where is such winemaking to be found? Right under your nose in your local wine industry. Once you get off the profit-maximizing, points-whoring, global wine market you find small producers, struggling to make ends meet, who make wine just for the sheer love of winemaking. This is where you find wines with meaning to go along with flavor.
It’s not necessarily the “localness” of local wines that makes them interesting. It is the motivation and vision behind them that provides the human connection and makes them worthy of loyalty. If all you want is flavor then any wine shop will have it from anywhere in the world. But if you want to drink character and spirit, visit your local winemakers.
Exploring the Philosophy of Food and Wine 