Put yourself in the winemakers shoes

This edition I will pose an interesting dilemma to you that I hope makes you think about a real life crisis a small wine makes faces. I hope it gives you a better understanding of their problems and encourages a great deal of feedback and comment via the Q&A board.

The grower has an established vineyard in a cool climate location that grows grapes that shows excellent terroir. (There’s that bloody word again – grin) Until a few years ago, all the grapes were sold to another company and now the grower is holding back their best grapes, making them into their own wine and selling them under their own brand. They produce a small range of single vineyard wines. The first few vintages were reasonably good wine and most of it was exported to the US. The small amount that was sold in Oz was $20 - $30 a bottle.

The 2001 harvest is in, the wine in barrel and the quality is good. The grapes from the estate will produce an elegant, refined mid weight wine that will be will long lived and will takes years to show its best.

The agent thinks he will have trouble moving it in the US because its to elegant for his customers and wants the wine needs to be fleshed out with 14.9% fruit bomb type grapes from another area. That way the wine can still be sold as an “X” region wine and it will be fruitier, sweeter and appeal to his US customers.

The grower who is having the wine produced for him (by a professional winemaker) doesn’t want to add the 14.9% brought in fruit, as he wants to build a single vineyard brand. But, remember times are tough. They had trouble breaking into the market in the first place and the majority of the wine has been going to the US. Also, the world market is getting ever more difficult, so what should he do?

There are two options. Firstly be driven by the marketing/sales guys and produce a wine that will sell. Alternatively they can stick to their plans for a single vineyard wine and risk economic and vinous extinction.

If the grower relents and bows to the dictates of his US customers, his plans for a single vineyard producing the sort of wine he wants to produce are over. If he goes the other way and does his own thing, even if 2001 wines sell what will happen in future years when vintages are not as stellar as 2001?

Will the market accept the wine from a single vineyard producer who is trying to produce reasonable priced wines that are highly individualistic is worthwhile in the off vintages? Or will buyers just cherry pick the good vintages and not support this new label?

If it’s a case of cherry picking vintages, this label as a single vineyard wine will be doomed.

So, now you can see the problems the other guy faces and why we are getting so much wine that is highly manufactured and consistent, but that’s not why I am writing this Journal. What do you think this producer should do and why? Can you understand why so many winemakers are taking the easy route and trying to produce consistent wine rather than wine that is highly stylistic; or individual single vineyard wines? Is that a good or bad thing?

Comments welcome on the Q&A Forum

Cheers