How I got the name McSnobblier

Back in the early part of the century (2003 maybe) I wrote an article for a magazine called the Improper Hamptonian about the local wine industry. I don't have a link to the original but I reposted the response article on my noblewines.com website.

The original article that got me the name McSnobbelier was a shot across the bow of the Long Island Wine Industry as I wondered why they put all their focus on producing Chardonnay and Merlot and virtually ignored Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. My premise was that to make the greatest Chardonnay or Merlot a new wine region had to compete against the marketing, history and quality of some of the world's greatest wines. Why not use the soil and climate advantage that Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc have on Long Island and the weakness of the marketplace those two grapes used to have as well. This of course has changed since 2003 or 2004 when I originally made that comment.

When the original article was published I was very upset with my editor as she had made changes to the article that changed the tone and meaning. I came across as far more critical of Long Island Wine Industry than I liked due to editing. But when I got the letter, I realized that sometimes being controversial works... a la Steve Cuozzo of NY Post writing about snobbish wine lists.

I got a bit of backlash from associates that owned vineyards and wineries in my backyard and from the founding member of the industry Louisa Hargrave. Along with the winery owners that disliked this theory, I also got a letter to editor saying that I shouldn't call myself an Advanced Sommelier rather I was a Master Snobelier. So I embraced the moniker, though changed it a bit.

Above is the original letter, here is it in print with my Editors response:

Hello Improper,
I’ve been enjoying your magazine since its “Hamptonian” days. I usually look for the wine articles in the local magazines. 1 Found the November “WINE OBSERVER” to be a little offensive to our local wine industry. Chris Miller was reviewing a wine tasting at the new Stony Brook Center for Wine, Food and Culture With Kevin Zraly. Now everyone is entitled to their opinions, but...if Chris is going to list his top 3 choices per flight, then LIST THEM! I wasn't there so I don’t know exactly which wineries and vintages were tasted, but I understand that there were wines from: France, Germany and California in addition to Upstate NY, and Long Island. What caught my attention and raised my ire was the last paragraph of his Blind Flight article. Chris can be as bored as he wants to be with Chardonnay (A.B.C.), but to “DIS” both local Chardonnay and Cab Franc so badly as to not bothering to rank them, OR any of the other wines in those 2 flights??? Worse yet is to say that he doesn’t think Long Island is suitable For Chardonnay (Hello? how many acres and awards) and Cab Franc isn’t showing up to potential (Jamesport CF. 2001 recently voted “Best Red “fine in NYS"). To me this means one thing, Chris may be an Advanced Sommelier, but I think he is more a candidate for “Master
SNOBELIER”.
Enjoyer of Local Wines, John Graeb, Cutchoguc
Thanks for your letter John, but don’t be too hard on Chris, be is all subject to editing-—-which in this case is the culprit for any snobbery. What is represented in his final paragraph is merely Chris’ opinion of the Cab Franc present that day. As Chardonnay, now that’s a matter of taste, which he did not have that day as he did not attend the Chard tasting.

European Wine Consumption vs. other Countries

For several years I have heard murmurings about the decline in wine consumption by Europeans, especially in France and Spain. Here are some recent numbers which illustrate the pain European wine industries are going through:

Wine consumption in Italy, as in other traditional European producer countries such as France and Spain, has fallen from 37 million hectolitres of at the end of the 1980s to less than 25 millions today (-30% in 20 years). On the contrary, new consumption is growing in other areas: United Kingdom (+94% compared to 20 years ago), USA (+47%), Russia (+63%) and China (+160%).

This puts increased pressure on all wine producing countries as Spain, France and Italy produce huge amounts of wine that are pushed through the economy.

VinItaly & Noble Wines

VinItaly starts in a couple of weeks and I am starting to get some press releases from them on occasion. The most recent one speaks to what I have been preaching for a long time, promoting the culture and noble qualities of wine and the benefits of small producers and their connection to those two important concepts. A small excerpt is below from the release.



“How can the Italians be encouraged to drink wine again?” Boscaini asks the question but also
provides the answer: "We need a communication policy that explains the naturalness and benefits of
wine as a noble product of our most ancient traditions."

Giuliano Dell’Orto suggests a few, highly effective rules that are especially valid for the
small companies representing the backbone of Italian production that cannot implement major
investments despite playing an important role in promoting the excellence and wealth of the
extraordinary, broad and high-quality offering that is the fullest expression of that genius loci which

is the exclusive heritage of Italy:
• focus on the distinctive features of the company;
• define a set of appropriate and effective tools for correct communication;
• create a unifying and easily recognised brand language;
• rationalise the offering portfolio in harmony with the culture of the company and well-
organised in relation to the needs of consumers;
• make sure that products are communicated in an effective manner through packaging that
highlights their specific character.

"Communication," Chiara Lungarotti, President of the Wine Tourism Movement, explains "is
particularly a problem for the many small producers entering the market over the last ten-
fifteen years that today need recognisability, visibility and positioning on the market." For all of
them, "wine tourism may well be of great help in terms of promotion and communication because it
improves awareness of product quality for Italian and foreign tourists alike."

Deflation

For many years we have heard about the danger of deflation and how certain moves by the Federal Reserve could keep that from happening and other moves could increase the likeliness of deflation happening.

Well, I believe we are seeing serious signs of deflation happening now in the wine industry. Every week now the new vintage of a wine or a wine region is released and most of the high-end wines are being released at prices that are lower than I have seen in several years. This is a good trend if it is only effecting the wine industry at the higher price points. Wine prices have been out of control since the 2000 and 2003 vintages of Bordeaux were released. But I am worried about how this will shake out in the larger or Macro view of business.

Now this trend is going the other direction for the 2009 Futures market from Bordeaux. But that has to do with the 300 million middle and upper class citizens of China and the change in the import tax on wine in Hong Kong. Seems that some wineries are aware of the opportunity in China and are working to get their wines into that market. China has the most potential in the wine industry for growth, with India, South America and North America trailing just behind. Actually it has been predicted that the US will be the largest consumer of wine in the year 2013, but we might not hold that title for long.

Introduction

I have written about wine since 2004 in published magazines, remember those, publications that are printed on paper, then later posted to the internet. I have tried blogging in the past with very little success, but now I think I may have found a reason to post more frequently and perhaps get some readers interest now and again.

What I plant to write about is not wine, what wine I love or hate or some droll note on a wine, but I want to write notes here about the wine business and link to other sources with news that I feel should be read by those of us that care about the wine industry. Things in the wine industry have changed enormously with the change in shipping laws, the internet and now the weak economy. As a New Yorker a new important issue is being debated loudly right now concerning wine being sold in grocery stores. I know this seems ridiculous to those wine consumers in California, Washington State and Europe, but...