Mike Veseth's Blog, page 37
August 7, 2018
The American Wine Industry’s Achilles Heel: Labor
[image error]I tell my friends that the wine business is a people business and it is really true. Relationships matter a lot in wine. One of the reasons that Sue and I so enjoy our work is the opportunity to meet and get to know so many wonderful people.
People are the wine industry’s strength, but they are also its Achilles heel and finding ways to adapt to a world with changing labor market conditions is perhaps wine’s greatest current challenge. We saw several aspects of the evolving labor crisis durin...
July 31, 2018
The IKEA of Italian Food & Wine? Welcome to FICO Eataly World
[image error]If you have ever visited an IKEA store I’m sure you have vivid memories of the experience. The stores are huge (30,000 square meters on average, I’m told, although there’s one in South Korea that’s almost twice that size).
Each store is organized around a journey that customers take from room to room, space to space, category to category, pausing only at the restaurant for Swedish meatballs before passing through the check stands, their bags and carts filled with Scandinavian-inspired home g...
July 24, 2018
Lost in Translation? Misunderstanding Old World and New World Wine
[image error]The idea that important things can get “lost in translation” holds true at many levels. Sometimes it is literally a translation problem, as Sue and I tried to switch between French and English on our recent trip to Languedoc, Roussillon, and the Loire Valley. For someone like me, who doesn’t speak French so much as just try to say some French words, there is a lot of potential for misunderstanding.
That’s America for You!
But sometimes the translations are from one culture to another and it i...
July 17, 2018
Discovering the “Invisible” Cooperative Wineries of Languedoc and Roussillion
[image error]They say that there is strength in numbers, which may explain why wine cooperatives tend to emerge during periods of crisis, when individual winegrowers are practically powerless to defend themselves and only collective action holds hope.
The cooperative in Caramany, the Vignerons de Caramany, was founded in 1924 in response to the Phylloxera crisis. It experienced ups and downs in the century that followed and seems to be thriving today — a good sign for Caramany and for French cooperatives...
July 10, 2018
VinoVip al Forte: Money, Taste, & the Future of the Italian Wine Industry
What’s holding back the Italian wine industry and how can it change to be more successful in the hyper-competitive global market environment? These questions brought us to a Tuscan seaside resort last month. Read on to see what we discovered.
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[image error]The icons of Italian wine gather in Cortina D’Ampezzo for a few days every other summer to spend some time thinking, talking (and, inevitably, eating and drinking) in contemplation and celebration of their wines. The event, VinoVIP Cortina, has alwa...
<<<June 26, 2018
Shaw Organic: Is This the Next Miracle from Bronco Wine & Trader Joe’s?
[image error]“It’s very popular — one of the varietals is nearly sold out already.” That was my friend Kelly’s response to a question about a new wine at her Trader Joe’s store: Shaw Organic. It is the latest wine from the people who brought you Charles Shaw (a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck) and I think it might say something about where the wine market could be going in the U.S.
Two Billion Buck Chuck
I wrote about the “miracle of Two Buck Chuck” in my 2011 book Wine Wars. The miracle, I said, wasn’t that the Bron...
June 5, 2018
Three Faces of Languedoc Wine: Aimé Guibert, Robert Skalli & Gérard Bertrand
[image error]Aimé Guibert and Robert Skalli — these were the key protagonists in my analysis of globalization and wine in the Languedoc in my 2011 book Wine Wars. Both Guilbert and Skalli revolutionized Languedoc wine, but in different ways. And they had different opinions of globalization, too.
If I were writing a second edition of Wine Wars today (readers: do you think I should?) I would add a third name — a champion of Languedoc wine who is revolutionizing it in another way today. That name is Gérard...
May 30, 2018
State of the Art? Aussie Wine Tourism Invests in Asia & Digital Strategies
[image error]Wine tourism is an increasingly important element of wine marketing and sales as both authenticity and identity grow as ways to differentiate products in today’s incredibly crowded and competitive global market. Nothing like the personal experience that wine visitors often receive to turn customers into ambassadors.
Of course wine tourism does more than sell wine because tourists spend time and money on food, lodging, local crafts, and more. With proper planning and broad local participation...
May 24, 2018
Wine Economist World Tour Update: Italy, Napa, Moldova, Romania
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The Wine Economist returns to the road in a few weeks. Here are some of the stops we plan during the summer months.
June 2018
I’ll be speaking about “Around the World in Eighty Wines” and leading a wine tasting as part of the University of Puget Sound’s Summer Reunion Weekend Alumni College. June 8-9, 2018. The good folks at Carpenè Malvolti, the famous Conegliano Prosecco house, have kindly donated some of their fine wine for a tasting. Lucky alumni students!>>><<<
Sue and I will be in For...<<<May 22, 2018
Navigating the Headwinds for French Wine Exports to the U.S. Market
[image error]Sue and I recently returned from a press tour to three French wine regions — Languedoc, Roussillon, and the Loire Valley — that are benefiting from the current surge in demand for French wines in the U.S. market. As I noted last week, France is back on consumer radar, especially with buyers thirsty for Rosé and sparkling wines.
A Lighter Shade of Pale?
I think there is smooth sailing ahead for Rosé, Blanquette, and Cremant producers from these regions at least in the short run, although El...
