Jeff Mazen sent me a link to an amazing story in today's Wall Street Journal. The title says it all: "Can Wine in a Sippy Box Lure Back French Wine Drinkers?"
The nerbo or nub of the story is this: Younger people in France [and Italy, by the way] drink wine far less wine than their elders. Ergo even premium winemakers are getting into sippy boxes of wine sold at supermarkets to induce the kids to forsake their Cola and beer. Cool thing is, it's still a cheap drunk, since an 8.5 ounce sippy box will set you back only $2.50. They believe it will be a big hit in Belgium (where the test market is) and northern Europe, where it is reputed people drink a lot.
OK, I'm no longer young, but I do remember what it was like to be young. And being condescended to by a bunch of clueless MBA's (or enarques) was one sure way to turn me off. Unless, of course, they want maman to give little Thierry and Sophie a head start on their wine habit. Invaluable at nap time for both maman and bebe.
Well, that's the French way to deal with an ocean of unsold wine -- over-researched and under-intuited.
Thank God for the Italians. Here's their response to the problem:
As reported in Decanter (August 23) the story commenceth thus:
Police uncover Italian wine fraud
Police have broken up an international counterfeit wine racket involving top Italian wines.
German and Italian police forces have uncovered a cross-border scam
involving table wine from Puglia and Piedmont sold as Barolo, Brunello
di Montalcino, Amarone and Chianti.
Unlabelled wine was brought into Germany, where it was given fake
DOC and DOCG seals and phoney labels from well-known producers as well
as non-existent wineries.
Now there's a strategy both time-tested and intuitive. Obeys the laws of the Market too: Buy low, sell high.
While the restaurateurs who bought the stuff were in on the con to escape taxes, I wonder how many consumers even noticed the switcheroo.
And gosh, do you think it could happen here??
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