{"id":1515,"date":"2020-03-29T18:26:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-29T18:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1515"},"modified":"2020-03-29T18:26:35","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T18:26:35","slug":"wine-tasters-can-affect-the-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1515","title":{"rendered":"Wine Tasters Can Affect the Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is well known that wines in many parts of the world taste different than they did a generation ago.\u00a0 Perhaps those with superior taste memories can testify to what wines used to smell and taste like, but all of us can be aware of certain changes. Taken overall, today\u2019s red wines are more robust, more alcoholic, ready to drink at a younger age and more likely to come from a large corporation.\u00a0 Whites are also more alcoholic and more full-bodied; in most of the world, they are quite likely to be either Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, to the exclusion of other grapes.<\/p>\n

How did this happen?<\/p>\n

Some attribute this, with some justification, to the influence of wine critics, in particular Robert Parker.\u00a0 Others see the broadening of the market to include younger, less experienced wine drinkers whose tastes run towards boldness rather than subtlety.\u00a0 The trends may be attributable to better science and technology that make bigger, more alcoholic wines easier to produce.<\/p>\n

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A wine tasting focus group.\u00a0 Photo courtesy of Find Focus Groups.<\/em><\/p>\n

The simplest answer is that wine producing companies and their winemakers have simply responded to the demands of the wine-buying marketplace.\u00a0 They are catering to the tastes of the people who are buying wine.\u00a0 That makes sense, but how do they know?\u00a0 They surely hold focus groups and monitor retail sales, but these are fairly blunt instruments.\u00a0 Focus groups don\u2019t necessarily tap into a meaningful cross-section of the people who buy most of the wine.\u00a0 And sales figures reflect a lot more than taste.\u00a0 Price, location, pretty labels and bottles, and the dominance of certain distributors also enter into the calculation.\u00a0 How else to explain the past popularity of Two Buck Chuck?<\/p>\n

A big factor in influencing the producers is the feedback that wineries receive from visitors in their tasting rooms, who are the more avid sector of the wine-drinking public.\u00a0 Those of us who enjoy traveling to sample wines can offer direct and immediate feedback to the wineries.\u00a0 They can see what people prefer, up close and personal.\u00a0 Do most visitors smile at that unoaked Chardonnay or do they wince and pour it out?\u00a0 Are the people who are enjoying a 16% alcohol Zinfandel just partiers out to get drunk or are they expressing pleasure at the fullness and depth of flavor that extra ripeness bring along with the alcohol?<\/p>\n

There are things that we can do to affect the market when we go wine tasting.<\/p>\n