The National Wine
UnClub
Blog/Newsletter
May/June 2010
American Idol Wines
It stands to reason that certain high profile performers will rise to the top of acclaim and glory in the mind's eye of the American John Q. Public. It's just human nature for us to try to pick winners out of a group of wannabe contenders. Wine enthusiasts are no different; we idolize various brands and seek out their top vintages with gusto. Much like the extremely popular television program "American Idol", where a single contestant takes the top prize, up-and-coming wineries vie for the limelight with their new releases to the market. These newer producers are trying to join the ranks of the established brands which already enjoy a healthy following of oenophile fans.
Revered labels like Silver Oak, Caymus, and Cakebread dominate the market for fine wine today, just like Michael Bublé, Lady Gaga, and JayZ wow their audiences with sometimes fleeting, but undeniable, star power. The music industry hit-maker machine keeps rolling out these wunderkind performers and we oblige with our download dollars in the billions. Of course, wine can't be received through a PC download, but internet wine purveyors are taking heavy consumer orders on the top brands to be shipped within a few days to the client's front door in states that allow this practice.
With the music world, we can sample the artist's wares by listening to their tunes on the Iphone, PC, radio, or on such television programs as "American Idol". We make our decisions in this regard from the comfort of our own homes and our purchases of the artist's work is done in the same way for the most part. The process is virtually instantaneous when it comes to music. With wine, one can read a review online of some new release and, if you trust the wine critic who wrote the review, you can order the wine online just as quickly as you ordered the latest Bublé hit.
Wine is really part of the world of the culinary arts which require a highly personalized approach to gaining wide approval from a mass audience. Foods must be tasted in the real sense and no virtual internet program will suffice to inform you about what your experience will be with that first taste of any new food. If someone describes a wine in a review as "mouth-filling plummy fruit with soft tannins and exotic wood spice" you may be interested, but until you try the wine for yourself you'll never know if it's going to be a new favorite.
This is where your local wine merchant comes into the picture. If he or she knows your preferences for certain wine styles then they might be capable of introducing you to a new label with a high degree of success and, I must add, at a great price! It's like a knowledgeable friend informing you about the next "American Idol" performer who is singing for tips at an 'open mike' club. You see the budding artist and you know they're going to make it big someday. Meanwhile, the masses are shelling out $50 to $70 for the latest Lady Gaga performance.
It's unfortunate that many wine enthusiasts follow the crowd when it comes to making their wine selections. They've heard about the fabled brands mentioned above and they want to drink the wines that their more sophisticated, in-the-know, friends are buying. It's also unfortunate that many of the most popular brands are so over-priced that one must shell out a small fortune to obtain a case (if you can find a case!) of the premier label. Added to that you have many desperate retailers using these hard to find brands as loss-leaders (wines sold at just above cost) to garner precious market share and you begin to see how difficult following a trendy brand can be.
How much more fun it is to seek out the new stars that are rising in the wine world today. As a wine guy, I don't tell my friends and customers to not buy the big-name brands; I simply seek to fully inform them about the whole range of wines that are available in the same class at much lower recognition levels and, by extension, much lower price levels. In other words, I'm looking for the next American Idol Wine and having great fun helping people discover many contestants in this regard. After all, it is you, the wine enthusiast, who will turn an unknown brand into the next highly-desired, trendy label of tomorrow!
Cheers!
Captain Vino