This Is Not The Wine World I Grew Up In

Dr. Paul Freedman's book “American Cuisine; How It Got This Way" chronicles the evolution (probably the wrong word, more like de-evolution) of what has become American cuisine.?It is a travesty that much of the rest of the world would say that American cuisine is hamburgers and french fries with the occasional hot dog thrown in. Dr. Freedman chronicles the path of American cuisine and explains the various stages of the evolution of our foods; from local church volunteer cookbooks to institutionalized processed and packaged foods, the book gives the reader greater power over what they consume and to make better purchasing decisions when at their local market. To net it out, food in America has been driven to mediocrity through merchandizing and convenience.

Wine is a bit behind the curve in this de-evolution to mediocrity (and that is elevating some of our food choices to mediocre). There are many moving parts to peeling back the “sameness"of?wine selections on the shelves at our local markets but many of those reasons rival the exact moving parts that lands us in front of an aisle of 16 flavors of Cheerios. Though there are 16 flavors, they are still Cheerios and in the same vein, while standing in front of the Cabernet Sauvignon section at our local market, we might be looking at 20 different brands of Cabernet Sauvignon but because corporate deference to consumer polling and focus groups creating wine “formulas,” each of these Cabernets is trying to attract the same consumer palate.

It has gotten to the point where as I peruse a wine list at a restaurant, I can tell you the prevailing supplier of wines; meaning the attention demanded in creating an interesting and food driven wine list has been ignored and deferred to the easiest way to create a wine list; go with the suggestions of the supplier and list the wines that garner the most margin. Certainly earning a living is an important factor but margins can be accomplished with or without an interesting list of wines (the difference being effort to curate a great list).

The food industry of the 1950’s and 1960’s took a turn to where convenience drove what we were offered to eat. Recipes that involved canned soups or processed foods were the sign of the times for convenience…virtually ignoring flavor and authenticity. Wine has begun to fall into this trap. Not necessarily that convenience (though one might argue screw-caps are a convenience) is a motivating factor, but we have been marketed into accepting generic, uninteresting styles of wine as the norm. While on a trip to Scottsdale Arizona, my wife texted the wine list to help her choose a wine for a table of 20 thirsty women (sorry I missed it). As I reviewed the list, it dawned on me it didn’t matter what she chose; though it was a voluminous list of the wines you see on the shelf at your local market, it was a virtual list of “sameness.” I texted back “It doesn’t matter. Pick one."

Much like food in America along the highways of the ’50’s and 60's, we have been corralled into seeking predictability in the wines we drink (from coast to coast, when we stepped into Howard Johnsons, we knew exactly what was on the menu). Now, lost on the wine shelves are the regional wines with regional character that once fueled the excitement of finding new flavors and grapes to stimulate our palates. The excitement of finding a small Burgundy house making village wines of great quality or a boutique Napa winery that makes complex Cabernet Sauvignon that rival its high priced neighbor, is being lost to uninteresting, formula driven wines.

But as in our food, not is all lost in the wine world. The 1980’s saw a renaissance in what we eat. The farm to table movement changed the direction of food choices in America, The good news in the wine industry is that there are responsible suppliers (importers and distributors) that believe in the diversity of the grape and still think that wine is an expression of time and place….and isn’t that what our food should be as well? An expression of something other than a corporate mandate? Let's not allow corporate America to shape what we drink with mediocre mass appealing wines.

Expand your palate, take the recommendation of your local wine merchant on new and interesting wines they are uncovering from the good guys.

Listen to Wine Talks with Paul K www.winetalkspodcast.com

PK