The America pricelist and la Cuvée américaine

In my last post I asked for your thoughts on the decline of the dollar versus the euro and the ramifications of a long-term weakening of the US currency on Italian wine in this country.  Your comments have been informative and stimulating with what is, I guess, an appropriate mix of worry, grit and hopefulness. 

So informative and stimulating that you've inspired me to do some Deep Thinking on the subject.  Directly and indirectly, I feel the need to respond to you. You have only yourselves to blame.

WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT AMERICA?

Gabrio mentioned the listino prezzi "America", the special price list wine producers in Italy have for American brokers and importers.  The prices are lower than those charged Europeans because the US  market is so large and attractive.   They regard it as the cost of entry for what they hope is a big long-term payoff in both sales and international prestige, home as the United States is to those critical heavyweights, Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator.  Whatever the producers may think of either, they crave their favor. After all, not only do the nouveaux riches of this country hang on their judgments, so do the NR of many lands, not least the rising powers of the East.

Wheeeeeeeee

Richard points out that fine wine isn't the only area in which NR Russians, Chinese, etc., are bidding up prices just as our currency's tanking.  Artworks, antiques, these other trappings of luxury, are reaching absurd prices.  A bursting bubble would affect all of the high-end goods in these areas.  ("More Thompson Seedless, Muffy?")

This "America" price list works well for us, especially now that the dollar is sinking.  The question you have to ask is: When will it end, and what will be the tipping point -- $1.75 -- $1.85 -- $2 to the euro?

And by the way, what will become of the special cuvée américaine in regions like Burgundy?  That charming tradition assumes Americans will pay top dollar for non-top wines -- stuff that isn't the best the property makes.   ("Gee, it tasted so much better when we had it in Dijon.")  I wonder how that will play out in an era of the feeble dollar.  Still special?  But not in a good way at all.

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...

Alfonso says the situation for wine isn't all bleak here in the U. S. of  A. If prices go sky-high, you can always attract new drinkers with entry-level wines -- and no doubt more experienced wine drinkers will trade downward but keep drinking when they hit the stores and eat out.  He emphasizes salesmanship and tireless energy to sell the stuff, and he should know.  He's been selling wines in the middle of the country for 30 years. A frequently punishing experience, teaching the folks in Texas about Eyetalian wine.

Our new wave of wine drinkers

But here's my problem with the suggestion of beginning again, in a sense, with neophyte wine drinkers.  How are you going to educate them on the pleasures of a nice Aglianico or Grillo when they hardly know red from rosé?  How are you going to get them to spend $12 something a little "offbeat" compared with your standard-issue Merlot?  It's one thing to explain a Refosco to a restaurant patron in Manhattan, but what the hell are they going to say in Midland or Muskogee?  Does even Alfonso have the time to educate restaurateurs to that degree?

Wanted a nice Schioppettino at his bris

Pairs well with gauze

Aristide thinks the time is right to hit the market with a new array of wines that come from areas less expensive (and less known) than Tuscany and Piedmont.  Smaller wineries, interesting, more natural-seeming wines that can appeal to drinkers at differing levels of wine knowledge.  God knows, when I look at importers' portfolios in this area, they're top-heavy with T and P, weak on Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Sardinia, etc.  So this idea sounds very appealing -- it's something of a pet topic for me -- although how willing are distributors to take on new wines in a perilous economic environment?  At the first hint of a serious drop in wine consumption, they'll do what anyone in any business would do:  promote their sure-things, let the rest freeze to death in the snow.

 

Comments

[Alfonso]

At an Italian tasting in Austin, yesterday, the room was filled with mostly young, and very savvy wine lovers. Now Austin is a bit different than the rest of Texas, but here we go. What were the wines that every one was buzzing about? Gaglioppo. From a small producer in Calabria named Statti. The wine buyer from Whole Foods,Devon Broglie, a young and intense gen-X'er, with a great sense of taste, took me to the side and told me he, and his staff, wanted to bust out the Whole Foods Flagship Store (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/lamar/) Italian wine section, not content to stock just Pinot Grigio and Chianti. And he was adamant, and convincing, that he and his staff, and the clientele, were ready- Now.

Down the street from there, my old friend John Roenigk, proprietor of The Austin Wine Merchant ( http://www.theaustinwinemerchant.com/) wants to stack the Gaglioppo next to the Beaujolais and give 'em a run for the money. And this is from a guy who was, at one time, an alleged Francophile.

Point being- Entry level aint what it used to be (just look at a the cost of a flat in Chelsea or Park Slope).

The other wines that were generating buzz?
A Muller-Thurgau and Traminer blend from Basilicata (Re Menfredi Basilicata Bianco), a Franciacorta Rose' from Contadi Castaldi, a late harvest passito from Sicily called Hekate, a 2002 Brunello from Castiglion del Bosco ( that's right, I said 2002), and the latest Illuminati Riserva, the 2003 Zanna ( which , rumor has it just tre-biq'ed again).

So these are hardly the garden variety wines, but for Austin, de rigueur.

And, as they say all across the land here, as goes Austin, so goes the rest of Texas.

It's good to be home, back in the trenches, drinking wine with "my people".

[Terry Hughes]

Excellent! All those years of hard work have paid off. In Austin anyway.

But, Alfonso, old man, I remember not a few miserable, disconsolate comments and emails in which you lamented the stygian ignorance of restaurant owners, retailers and consumers in places like Midland. So we both know it ain't all Gaglioppo and Zanna out there...

[Alfonso]

nor is it in Midtown or Carroll Gardens, and do we even want to talk about the challenges of selling Gaglioppo and Zanna on Arthur Avenue, or that neighborhood icon of icons, Little Ittly?

[Terry Hughes]

Touche'.

Never mind Bay Ridge, Brooklyn or Whitestone, Queens. And Staten Island? Fuhgeddaboutit!

[Gabrio Tosti]

Remember that Olive Garden has 2 restaurants in Manhattan. Have you seen their wine list???
http://www.olivegarden.com/wines/wine_list/Default.asp?\
I started to sell good and less usual Italian wines little over 10 years ago, in the east village.
Crack and heroine were the plateau du jour for most of the residents, trust me we had to go up against a huge educational task, (from not serving Parmiggiano on seafood pasta to had to explain several times why the 18 oz glass wasn't filled to the top).
Alfonso, Terry NYC 20 years ago was not refined at all (at least on the Italian culture) and is in part also our fault; in Italy as you might know some people spend more time to try to screw you then to do the things right, back in the days was even worst because of the mafia and the bad political reputation, so can you imagine how much crap we send to the states?
After the crap we had Santa Margherita Bolla and Cavit that build back the trust in the American consumer...they did a great marketing job but still Italian wines and foods were identified just with industrial products, as well as the pasta, cheeses, olive oil and so on.
Just recently we started to get higher quality Italian products with an increased selection of less industrial items, authentic restaurant and also hard working people that really gained the trust of the American market, today finally Italy means quality.
Buona Bevuta e Mangiata a Tutti

[Terry Hughes]

You're absolutely right, Gabrio. It was pretty bad here in Manhattan 20 years ago, from both the crime AND the food/wine points of view.

It takes every little bit of education from a lot of people to make the difference and bring the food/wine culture along. You and Alfonso, in very different ways, have contributed much to that.

BTW, I hope to get down to your neighborhood this afternoon...see you soon.