$1 Shipping Fall Wine SaleAs a 30-Second Wine Advisor reader, you are invited to shop The California Wine Club's $1 Shipping Fall Wine Sale. |
This article was published in The 30 Second Wine Advisor on Friday, Sep. 12, 2014 and can be found at http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/tswa20140912.php.
Wine as economic indicator?
Do fine wine sales trends serve as an early indicator of coming economic times?
Sales of "mid-level" wines - those priced at $30 to $70 per bottle at retail - may offer a better economic barometer than either high-end trophy wines or mass-market bottles, according to Master Sommelier Alexander LaPratt.
"The middle wines are where you see the impacts of recession," LaPratt told Forbes.com contributor Joe Harpaz, who quoted the sommelier in his Sept. 10 Forbes.com report, "Wine As Economic Indicator: Do Sales Of $50 Pinots And Merlots Predict Our Economy's Future?"
"At the high end, where people are spending $100 or more for a bottle of wine, that kind of spending is pretty much recession-proof and influenced by other factors like vintage and seasonality," said LaPratt, who is sommelier at Atrium DUMBO restaurant in Brooklyn.
"But the $30-$70 range can be hit pretty hard by changes in disposable income. That's where we really see the most economic sensitivity in wines," LaPratt said, adding that sales of "ultra-high-end" wines that sell for $100 a bottle or more seem relatively "recession-proof."
I've always been struck by a sad economic indicator at the other end of the price ladder, which suggests that the sales of cheap alcohol go up during hard times, hinting at the unhappy reality of alcohol as anodyne for hardscrabble depression. But that's another story for another day.
As for me, even in good times I have a hard time justifying a $70 bottle, and even a $30 wine-shop price tag strikes me as a splurge reserved for a special occasion. Add a few bucks more when you're dealing with the restaurant wine-list markup, but still. It's no coincidence that my wine musings have always focused on "Quality-Price Ratio" as expressed in wines that, in the current market, retail in the $10 to $25 range.
How about you? Just for fun, I've set up an online poll, hoping to take a casual snapshot of wine lovers' behavior when it comes to wine and hard times. Click here to take the poll and view the results on our WineLovers Discussion Group forum.
(You'll have to register in the forum to "vote," but it's free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name as your public user name. To join the forum, drop me a note at wine@wineloverspage.com with your real name, preferred format and a temporary password, and I'll take care of the rest.)
Today's Sponsor
$1 Shipping Fall Wine Sale!
As a 30-Second Wine Advisor Reader, you are invited to shop The California Wine Club's $1 Shipping Fall Wine Sale.
Stock up for the holidays with 200+ award-winning wines on sale for as low as $9.99. Every wine is handcrafted and guaranteed to be delicious. Plus, you'll save up to $36 in shipping on every case.
$1 Shipping Fall Wine Sale ends on September 30, 2014.
Shop Now
About The California Wine Club:
California is home to thousands of small family wineries handcrafting extraordinary wine in quantities too limited to be found in local stores or shops. In 1990 wine club founders Bruce and Pam Boring discovered that these winemaking families were the most passionate in the wine world and that their wines were the hidden gems of wine country! Together Bruce and Pam embarked on a journey to help these artisan wineries introduce their exquisite wines to the world. Learn more.
www.cawineclub.com 1-800-777-4443
Today's Tasting Report
Michlits 2013 "BioKult" Niederösterreich Grüner Veltliner ($14.99)
Made by Austria's largest organic grape producer, this wine is certified organic by Austrian Bio Garantie, and meets standards of the US Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program Certified Grapes. It's clear light gold in color. Fresh citric lemon-lime on first tasting, adding a touch of "wet wool" and a faint whiff of white pepper as it opens in the glass. Rather rich for a GV, some aromatic peach over citrus on the palate. Light petillance ( a hint of prickly carbonation on the tongue), gentle 11.5% alcohol,, and a subtle edge of minerality, "rainwater over rocks," that becomes more apparent with time in the glass. U.S. importer: Natural Merchants LLC., Rogue River, Ore. (Aug. 15, 2014)
FOOD MATCH: Good with summer garden bounty, it made a fine match with a pilaf of fresh broccoli and heirloom tomatoes.
WHEN TO DRINK: Best drunk up while it's young and fresh, although a few weeks in the fridge or a year or two on the wine rack aren't likely to damage it.
VALUE: It's a good value in the lower to middle teens. Wine-Searcher.com shows its median US retail price at $13.
WEB LINK:
This importer's web page covers the basics. Here is a link to the producer's website (German only).
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Locate vendors and compare prices for Michlits 2013 "BioKult" Niederösterreich Grüner Veltliner on Wine-Searcher.com.
This wine is also available in the U.S. at Whole Foods wine shops.
Visit us on Facebook!
Don't forget, we have recently revamped and updated our WineLovers Facebook Page. If you'll drop by and "Like" the page, you can get Facebook notifications when there's a new The 30 Second Wine Advisor issue or a topic of particular interest on the WineLovers Discussion Group.
Talk About Wine Online
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today's article or wine in general, you're always welcome to drop by our online WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet's first and still the most civil online community. To find our forums, click:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village
Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D". Anonymous, cryptic or first-name-only registrations are discarded without notice.
Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums.
To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
Subscriptions and Administrivia
Unsubscribe:
We're sorry if you must leave us, but simply click the "unsubscribe"
link at the bottom of your Email edition to be instantly removed from the mailing list.
Change address:
The quickest and easiest way to change your Email address is simply to register anew, using the link below. If you are keeping your old address but no longer wish to get the Wine Advisor there, click the unsubscribe link below to take it off our list; if you are closing the mailbox, you needn't take any action, as our system will delete your old address as soon as the mail to your old address starts to "bounce."
Subscribe to this weekly E-letter (free):
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor
WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free):
http://feeds.feedburner.com/wineloverspage/tzva
Wine Advisor Archives:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/archives.php
Sponsorship Opportunities:
For information, E-mail wine@wineloverspage.com