Here’s a typical American meal that will be served in homes all over the country this summer: Grilled steak, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes and wine.
Yes, wine.
Although Americans don’t yet embrace the fermented fruit of the vine as unself-consciously as Europeans do, its appearance on a dinner table here no longer signals a special occasion.
Income from wine sales in this country grew by 250 percent from 1991 to 2001 and consumption rose between 2 and 5 percent per year thanks to more discretionary spending, reports linking moderate wine consumption with good health and a swing from generic to more expensive varietal wines.
Jon Fredrikson, publisher of the Gombert, Fredrikson Report, a wine industry publication, wrote recently that in 2001, the U.S. wine market was “more competitive than it has been in a decade . . . Wineries were vying more intensely for retail shelf space and restaurant wine listings, while abundant California winery inventories and an increasing global supply of wine led to aggressive sales and marketing activities.”
The result was “many great buying opportunities,” he wrote.
Despite reports of record prices paid for prize auction items (for instance, $27,600 for six bottles of 1961 Chateau Petrus in New York last month) and eye-popping prices on many restaurant wine lists, those buying opportunities are there still.
So, seizing an opportunity to reinforce or kindle enthusiasm, we decided to devote this issue of Good Eating to wine. Our pages contain profiles of favorite wine grapes and useful information on labels, shopping and trends that can help you take advantage of the plentiful supplies of wine on the market today.
The United States is the fourth largest wine producer in the world. In the past decade red wine consumption more than doubled, while white and blush wines lost market share by volume. Still, only 10 percent of the population drinks 86 percent of the wine.
Chardonnay remains the best seller, with 29 percent dollar share. Cabernet and merlot follow at 19 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Exports continue to grow. The top four customers are the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands. Imports, which account for about 20 percent of wine sales in the U.S., primarily come from Italy, France, Chile and Australia.
In 2001 sales slowed and there was talk of a “lake” of unsold wine in California that would force prices down. To some extent that happened, but as winemaker Jeff Stewart of the Napa Valley winery La Crema said, “While there is a wine glut in the Central Valley and it will take a few years for the market to absorb it, there’s no glut in Napa.”
Adds winemaker Tim Mondavi, “The oversupply is good. The entire system is forced to focus on quality. You need it to prosper. Selectivity is rampant. This favors the consumer, favors everybody.”
“Consumers are winning big with low-end wines,” says Steve Reeder, who makes the wines of Chateau St. Jean in Sonoma County. “Quality has improved by leaps and bounds in the $5 to $8 range and the $12 to $15 range.”
More Top Picks Best Steam Irons
Innovations in grape-growing and winemaking also have “boosted the quality of wine” worldwide, Fredrikson wrote. Increased respect and interest are being accorded wines from the Southern Hemisphere and southern Italy. And a strong U.S. dollar that keeps down the price of European wines encourages Americans to drink more of them.
In the U.S., some grapes are chipping away at the dominance of cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, among them pinot noir, zinfandel and syrah, on the red side, and whites such as pinot gris (a.k.a. pinot grigio) and viognier.
There are, however, some clouds on the horizon. Wine continues to be used as a vehicle of intimidation by elite consumers, self-absorbed sommeliers and the occasional wine writer. Many consumers are disturbed by the radical wine price markups in restaurants and younger drinkers and some ethnic groups favor beverages other than wine.
How to approach them?
La Crema’s Stewart favors a simple message. “Wine is food,” he says. “At the end of the day it brings you pleasure.”
Ken Brown, winemaker at Byron Vineyards, adds: “We should be teaching about how wine enhances a meal, that the choice is not that important. Wine and food are just meant for each other.”
What’s that wine cost?
Here is a rundown on the typical costs that go into a bottle of Napa Valley wine. The figures, from 1997, came from Groth Vineyards.
%% Growing the grapes $2.31
Making the wine 2.33
Winery marketing, administration 2.66
Winery Interest .76
Winery income taxes .72
Winery profit .72
Distributor 3.17
Retailer 6.33
Retail price $19.00
%%