Mike Veseth's Blog, page 29

Global Wine Impacts of Coronavirus Crisis & Recession: OIV Update

[image error]The OIV released their annual State of the World wine sector report last week (via social-distancing video conference, of course) and it is noteworthy both for its view of the recent past and its tentative analysis of present conditions and future trends. (Here are links to the report summary, the press release in pdf, and the presentation in pdf,  and the report in pdf.)

Under normal circumstances, my focus here would be on the annual report itself and the recently-released special study of...

Wine Industry Consolidation & the Big “W” Recession Threat

[image error]In my other life as an economics professor I studied financial crises and their implications (one of my academic books, which seems eerily relevant today, was called Mountains of Debt). One thing that I learned about the financial sector is that crises are generally followed by periods of consolidation.

Smaller, more fragile banks and investment firms fail or fall into the hands of larger firms (sometimes the big ones fail too as the Washington Mutual collapse of a few years ago reminds us)....

Wine Economist 10 Under $10 Challenge: Nominations Open

[image error]Last week New York Times wine columnist Eric Asimov published a list of 15 Wines under $15: Inexpensive Bottles for Stay-at-Home Drinking.  Its always fun and interesting to go through Asimovs price-constrained wine lists (he often features 20 under $20 wines) and this one got me thinking about wine and coronavirus recession drinking.

Fifteen dollars is a good limit to consider some wine critics have suggested that $15-$20 is the current sweet spot for everyday wines. But, in the spirit of...

Wine & the Coronavirus Recession: Shaping Up the Prospects for Recovery

 

As recent Wine Economist columns have reported, its very clear now that the world economy has fallen into a recession, with some countries and regions affected more than others.  The depth of recession is hard to gauge. A few weeks ago I thought that things would be very bad here in the United States, with as many as 5 million unemployed.  But by late last week almost 10 million had applied for unemployment benefits in just two weeks and the shoes are still falling. Incredible. What will...

Coronavirus & Wine: Market Impacts Beyond the Recession

[image error]Most of the G-20 economies around the world have  effectively entered (or soon will do) the red zone of recession, violently pushed there by the coronavirus pandemic. Recent Wine Economist columns (click here) have accordingly focused on the direct economic impacts of this crisis on the wine industry.

I hope you have found the analysis helpful in thinking through the current situation. Events have moved so fast that it is difficult (impossible?) to keep up!

Todays column steps back and looks...

Wine, Recession & the Curse of the Unknown Unknowns

 

The coronavirus pandemic continues to gain momentum, causing serious economic disruption around the world. The wine business has experienced a number of important impacts already and the future is uncertain.

Booming Sales for Now

In the immediate run, retail wine sales are booming in many regions and through on-line vectors as consumers stock up on wine along with toilet paper in anticipation of possible store closures and enforced isolation.  How much this will turn out to be an increase...

Wine, Recession, and Coronavirus: This Time is Different?

[image error]Last weeks Wine Economist column was a working draft of my analysis of how the coronavirus pandemic might impact the wine industry.  One focus was on the possibility of a recession in at least some parts of the world and slowing economic conditions generally.

An economic downturn would certainly impact the wine industry. Wine is, after all, a discretionary good for most consumers.  I havent heard of anyone filling their Costco wagon with wine the way they have done with toilet paper, although...

Wine & Coronavirus: Assessing the Risks

[image error]Concern about the health impacts and economic effects of the novel coronavirus continues to grow. Although the health impacts are obviously most important, since lives are at risk, it is natural to also be concerned about how this potential pandemic might affect the global economy in general and the wine industry in particular.

I have been following the situation closely focusing for personal reasons on the U.S. (we live about 40 miles from the coronavirus infection epicenter near Seattle)...

Book Review: What Can Wine and Coffee Learn from Each Other?

[image error]Morten Scholer, Coffee and Wine: Two Worlds Compared. Matador/Troubador, 2018.

What can the coffee industry learn from wine (and vice versa)? That’s the question that Morten Scholer wanted to examine when he set out to write Coffee and Wine: Two Worlds Compared.It is the kind of question that gets attention here at The Wine Economist, where we search for lessons about the future of wine by looking at all sorts of other products ranging from craft beer to almond milk and beyond.

Coffee and...

Sometimes the Best Wine is a (Non-Alcoholic) Beer

[image error]“Sometimes the best wine is a beer” is the title of a chapter in my book Money, Taste, and Wine: It’s Complicated. The chapter begins with a situtation that most wine drinkers have experienced. Stranded at a charity reception with only tasteless donated wine to drink, I long for the craft beer that others seem to be enjoying so much.

At really low price points (and sometimes at higher price levels, too), I am afraid that the best wine probably is a beer, at least if you care what you’re...