State of the Wine Nation Musings
As you know, if you’re reading this, that no-one reads my blog. This reminds me of a time when I discovered that a whole bunch of people had been reading my personal diary at uni. When I confronted one of them, they said, quite reasonably: “Well, you shouldn’t leave it out so we can read it. To which I replied: “It was in my room, buried in the bookshelf. How “out” is that?” Well, my lucubrations are buried on our web-site. If I go all funny, personal and ranty it’s just between you and me.
Most of the time I’m writing tasting notes on wines and endeavouring to put the right words in the right order like some WSET trained drone (no offence). It’s not me-me, but public service me, tasting note purveyor me. Much writing is arduous yet automatic because it is not stirred by passion. Yet when something prickles my quills I unleash me tuppence ha’pennorth without fear or favour. Being crabby and whiny endears you to no-one, but mealymouthedness never effected any change. There is no point being sycophantic to people or skirting around sensitive issues.
I have been more exercised by the wine trade this year than ever. It used to be said that in times of crisis people would pull together and support each other. In business the reverse holds true as companies will do anything to survive. Capitalism in crisis is a kind of war with a perpetual scorched earth policy.
Firstly, I would like to enumerate the positives in our business and name-check the heroes. Without the vignerons we would not be doing what we are doing. Their passion, their understanding and their flair helps to create a product that we want to sell. These artist-artisans (or vice-versa) manage to translate all the nuances of the microclimate and weather into beautiful expressive liquid. They are invariably generous to a fault when you visit them. They remind you that wine is about giving people pleasure.
Just as travel is said to broaden the mind learning about wine is a key that opens many other doors: from history and stories, geography and geology, biology and chemistry, food, language, environmentalism and local culture. Wine is the product of the region and the people.
Selling can be rewarding especially when you encounter like-minded, caring people who love to drink good wine and share their enthusiasm with others. Hospitality runs through their veins and the customers who eat in their restaurants are treated like people not “covers”.
The commercial side of the wine trade has some rebarbative practices. Graft allied to narrow corporate objective rides roughshod over ethical business principles in all aspects of the industry. Supermarkets and large wine merchants cynically rig the market with phoney deals and price fixing with the sole aim of garnering market share. At any cost. Throughout the trade it is about the money that (openly or secretly) exchanges hands so that deals can be done. The big companies are not just engaged in selling wine, they are after buying business. The product is either the means to the end or an incidental. And on the other side it is about restaurateurs who play merchants off against each other, it is about paper trails being generated and payment avoided, about demanding freebies but displaying no loyalty. It is about rip-off mark-ups and zero idea of value for money and taking customers for granted. It is about wine lists being a clunking revenue raiser rather a means of engaging and delighting the customers.
From being a kind of gentlemen’s club the wine trade has become more adversarial, envious and often mean-spirited. This is not a blanket condemnation; there are lovely people at every level of the business united by their passion for wine. Competition and the endless desire for growth has, however, creates constant tension within companies, between companies and between seller and buyer. Relationships should be built on mutuality, not bullying and shallow subservience. Treat people with respect and they should respect you back; be arrogant and piss people off and you’ll inevitably create a whole I’m-all-right-Jack anti-culture.
Legalised piracy masquerading as entrepreneurialism may have made England great once but it is very vieux chapeau now. I believe that one should work ethically. There’s no point pretending that malpractice doesn’t go on in our industry. The disingenousness of those who disavow knowledge of this is deeply grating.
To return to the sunlit uplands of ideology. The way to change anything is through action and good practice. So support those who sell great wines from small growers. Support those who trade responsibly and put the interest of their growers and their customers to the fore. Support those who champion growers who encourage biodiversity in their vineyards. Support those who work hard to earn your respect, rather than flashing the cash to get a quick fix.