Mike Veseth's Blog, page 24
March 2, 2021
OTBN 2021: Open That Bottle of Armenian Wine
We celebrated Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) 2021 on Saturday with a pandemic-mode Zoom gathering of the usual suspects. We shared stories, honoring the tradition, and felt good about being together even if we could not also share the particular bottles of wine we brought to the party. Next year. Fingers crossed!
Usually the wines we select for OTBN are a backward glance. They remind us of people, places, or events that live in our memories and are released when glasses are poured. This year was ...
February 23, 2021
Book Review: The Wines of Georgia
Lisa Granik MW, The Wines of Georgia (The Infinite Ideas Classic Wine Library, 2020).
The wines of Georgia are having a moment, and it is about time. Wine is very old in Georgia, the cradle of wine, but Georgian wines are relatively new on the markets here in the United States, as Georgian producers pivot from dependence on Russia and former Soviet states and work hard to develop markets in the UK, EU, US, and China.
The push into new markets comes at a difficult time because pandemic restrictio...
February 16, 2021
Kiwi Malbec? Signature Wines & the Dutch Disease Effect
Some people like to define wine regions by their signature grape varieties. New Zealand = Sauvignon Blanc. Argentina = Malbec. You know what I am talking about. So what should you think of a Kiwi Malbec like the one shown here? Read on to find out.
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What do you think of when I say Malbec? Well, there are lots of things that could come to your mind, but I expect that Argentina or Mendoza are at or near the top of your mental list for this term. Malbec is Mendoza’s signature wine grape and it...
February 11, 2021
Institute of Masters of Wine Webinar: Climate Change & Global Wine Trade
The Institute of Masters of Wine is continuing its webinar series next Wednesday February 17, 2021 with a session on “The Impact of Climate Change on the Global Wine Trade.”
The panel includes
Dr Greg Jones – Chair, Evenstad Center for Wine Education / Wine Studies
Lulie Halstead – CEO Wine Intelligence
Jane Masters MW (moderator) – view MW profile
Mike Veseth – Wine Economist, Professor emeritus of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington)
The sessio...
February 9, 2021
Anatomy of WineFuture 2021: Think Big
WineFuture 2021, an ambitious virtual wine conference, is just two weeks away and I am excited to be part of the program. The wine industry has embraced the necessary pivot from in-person events to on-line programs, so there are lots of virtual conferences these days. What makes WineFuture 2021 different?
Thinking Big
One distinguishing factor is the expansive vision of the organizers. This program thinks big, with global reach and broad societal focus. The gist of the program is this: the worl...
February 2, 2021
Three Things I Learned at the Unified Symposium’s “State of the Industry”
I’m the luckiest person I know and one aspect of my good fortune is that I have had the opportunity to moderate and/or speak at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium‘s “State of the Industry” session each year since 2012. Last week’s program was therefore my tenth appearance on the “State of the Industry” panel. How time flies!
Each year’s session brings together leading wine industry experts to talk about key trends and opportunities, recognize unresolved problems, and celebrate success. No wonde...
January 26, 2021
2021 Wine Scenarios: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
What will the wine world look like a year from now? Will our assessment of 2021 be good, bad, or ugly? Last week’s Wine Economist column briefly explored a “Roaring Twenties” scenario that is making the rounds both for wine and for the economy generally.
The Roaring Twenties theory holds that the pandemic has created pent-up demand for all the things that we’ve had to sacrifice in the last year but that will soon become available again. Parties and celebrations. Gatherings in bars and restauran...
January 19, 2021
Return of the Roaring Twenties? Anatomy of Wine’s Next Chapter
Will wine’s next chapter be characterized by continued crisis and austerity? Or is a return of the Roaring Twenties on the cards? Herewith some thoughts about the changing wine market and where it might be going next.
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I became an economist because I’m interested in change and economics provides a logical framework to study cause and effect. I gravitated to the study of wine economics as I began to learn more about global wine markets and saw in them case studies of the sort of dynamic forces...
January 12, 2021
Wine 2021: The Good News is the Bad News Could Be Much Worse
Australia’s export dilemma.
As the door to 2021 slowly swings open, the landscape looks both familiar and transformed at the same time. When the U.S. wine industry entered 2020, for example, the problems seemed to be stagnant demand on one side and excess wine grape supply on the other. Not a good situation for the world’s largest wine market, but not something beyond our ability manage, either.
Those problems are still with us, although they’re a bit lost in the fog. Structural wine production ...
January 5, 2021
Wine Future 2021, Idaho Wine, The Unified: Wine Economist World Tour
The Wine Economist World Tour is back on the virtual road in 2021. We hope for the return of in-person events before too long, but until that’s possible virtual events will do very well. Here are the first three stops for the new year.
The Unified: State of the Industry
The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (January 26-29, 2021) is going virtual this year, including both the seminars and the amazing trade show. It will be quite an experience.
The program addresses a host of important issues, with ...
