By Fred Delkin

 Wine is undergoing marked changes in its relationship with the American consumer.  A sudden flood of quality, moderately priced imported premium wines has moved wine buyers from traditionalism to experimentation.  Youth is being served, discovering grape varietals beyond the few that California initially taught us to embrace, learning the joys of matching wines with food and finding retail shelves and floor displays awash with wines wherever one turns.  Wine by the glass has become a “must” for restaurants and bars.  Credible medical research in both Europe and America has documented in the past decade distinctive health benefits in the regular and moderate consumption of both red and white wines.

The Wine Bar is a new and growing institution that encourages the consumer to sample wines with a variety of small food plates and reasonable pricing.  Wine tastings have become a retail ritual, often at no cost to the audience.  In western Oregon, urban dwellers can find pastoral relief with a few minutes drive into rolling green landscapes, with winery tasting rooms offering another step in an entertaining education.

Wine is gradually losing the snobbishness it once held.  It is far easier to develop personal wine tastes without fear of being degraded by those who believed that Burgundies and Bordeaux are the only true vinous standards.

Domestic producers penalized

It is definitely a brave new wine world out there…a world that currently rewards consumers while financially penalizing domestic producers.  California is struggling with a glut of grapes, plus a growing consumer opposition to what were the most popular wine stylings by golden state producers…Chardonnays reeking of oak and butterscotch just don’t compliment what’s on your plate.  Jug and box wines have fallen out of favor as premium wines are now within range of the most parsimonious consumers.  Oregon is now home to well over 200 wineries, but virtually all are small volume sources forced to overprice their bottlings, good as they may taste…production costs here are significantly higher than foreign wine regions.

Australia has been doing the best marketing on the world wine scene…or have you sprung for a bottle of Yellowtail Chardonnay yet?  Argentina only recently entered the American wine market, but has done so with pricing, packaging and acceptable premium wine quality.  Chile has been a major wine player here for the past decade, aided by marketing investments from the likes of California’s Robert Mondavi and Gallo.  South African labels are now battling for American attention, using price as a key weapon.

Americans aren’t there yet

Something’s got to give to increase premium wine sales momentum in these United States and relieve warehouse inventory backups now becoming prevalent.  We still haven’t come close to the per capita consumption levels of Europe, and we still don’t view vino as a standard accompaniment to home meals.  A nation that still succumbs to the sour soda water of our nationally distributed and overwhelmingly marketed beers needs more focus on the glories of the fermented grape.  Oregon has successfully shown that microbrews can capture a significant market share with affordable taste quality.  

Get thee to the nearest Wine Bar and join the educational effort to bring more partisans into the world of wine…and stock  your residence with selections from retail shelves bursting forth with better values than ever before.  You can afford, and enjoy, wine as an everyday experience at the dining table.

© 2003 Oregon Magazine