World Wine Culture

Consumption patterns across the world are so different it can be startling. Here in the U.S., the largest share of the wine market is Chardonnay as an aperitif. Last year I was in Alba, Italy and was lucky enough to witness a few local winemakers having a discussion about the proper wine to pair with breakfast! They settled on a Dolcetto table wine at 10% ABV…

Wine, its place with cuisine and its socially acceptable consumption is perceived very differently from country to country. I was in Germany earlier that year at a wine festival in Stuttgart and there must have been 100 producers there, with a 1000+ Germans very happily drinking sweet Riesling and Spatburgunder with their schnitzel & spatzele (very little dry wine). What an awful wine-food pairing, based on the U.S. palate. To a large extent, wine demand represents local preference, i.e. the weak market for import wines in California.

Breakfast of Champions, or NOT

So, could a wine producer develop a market in the U.S. for a very light, low alcohol red wine with a minimum of fruit, like the breakfast Dolcetto in Italy? Doubtful… but it sure has me thinking about the lifestyle associated with that kind of demand. I may be living in a shack on the beach in Italy soon! Wait, it would never work. My wine cellar would never fit!