I spent a half-hour at an event today. It was full of wine people and hangers-on. There was a press briefing, which I missed to my undying grief, at which Italian agriculture minister Luca Zaia and pezzi grossi from Veronafiere (Vinitaly) and other lobbying entities pimped the glories of Italian agribusiness.
After the press wanking I went with the flow and found a wee table to stake claim to a seat, wandered around looking for something to eat -- forget it, I don't stand in line for so-so hors d'oeuvres -- and sipped a glass of Bastianich Tocai (Friulano, I mean) as the greedy masses lumbered by.
I was snubbed by a couple of people (hi, Charles Scicolone, nice to see you too) but I mostly stared with bemusement at the merry Italian junketers who go from Del Posto to Marea to other high-end eateries, usually of the Italian persuasion, on their junkets to New York. Many so elegant, so beautifully tailored, so well-connected.
They looked delighted, no doubt because They Have Access to Mr. Zaia & Co., and because, well, for a few days they're doing New York which is of course equivalent to saying, "I've been in America. There is a profound understanding of our wines/oil/cheese/salami, and so everything is marvelous." Not to mention the pretty young assistants who travel with il Patrone, whom they undoubtedly call Dr. Max* behind his back. They serve to mitigate the tristesses and solitudes of travel in a distant land.
If these Italian joy-riders do deign to visit another city it's usually Miami (obvious as to why), LA (ditto), San Francisco (ditto). They'll do Boston, Philly, DC -- well, they're not far away and they're important parts of the Northeastern Megalopolis (60 million people or so, the population of Italy in a tighter, richer space), but they're no Vegas, that's for sure. (House rules always favor the big spenders in Washington, unlike in Vegas.)
Maybe a few of the less well-heeled, and those who are more tolerant of provincial cluelessness, will schlepp to Chicago or Dallas or -- ha! -- Cleveland. But those stalwarts are in a tiny minority, those who leave the cocoon of self-regard with all its comforts and transplanted values. What they experience is or should be a wake-up call, because:
People don't get your wines
They won't pay your ridiculous prices
They find you less charming than strange
You too often have an attitude that can be, oh, a tad off-putting
We all know understanding and appreciation go both ways.
You're the ones trying to sell something that people can pretty much do without. You first.
*Very old allusion to a scathing satire of the same title (patrone = boss) by Goffredo Parisi.

Looking ahead
What will 2010 be like for Italian wine in the US?
Like 2009. Only more so.
Everyone's been hoping for a big rebound in 2010, but early indications are that the market will not snap back to "normal." Retailers and restaurateurs in New York-New Jersey keep pushing for lower-cost wines; except for holiday gift shopping, the mantra will continue to be "under $20."
With the weaker dollar, this has important ramifications for producers, importers, customers.
Producers need to get serious about discounts. I'll go beyond that and recommend they lower their pricing domestically as well. Italian consumers are scraping by these days. Aspirational pricing is no longer feasible, and fashion should follow feasibility. In terms of international competitiveness, Italian producers must lower prices or continue to lose market share to the South Americans. (Talk about an ignominious fate.)
I just got a price list from a Piedmontese producer who assured me that the 20% discount he offered was the best deal he'd offered any US importer. But 7 euros for a Nebbiolo d'Alba reduced to 5.60 -- it's not an attractive price. It would end up on local shelves for, what, $25? I wrote the poor guy back and suggested we start talking at a 30% discount.
Another Piedmontese producer understood right away, proposing something close to a 50% discount. He's sitting on a lot of wine. Forget dreams of getting rich. These days it's about enough cashflow to pay the bills.
As a consequence, importers have to get very picky.
How many times have I heard of such-and-such an importer who has an excellent book, but whose wines are too expensive for today's conditions? And how many times have I heard of the distributors who represent them slashing prices to an extent that undermines the entire market for, say, Brunello?
May I tell you that it didn't take a genius to see two years ago that the economy was overheated and was going to experience a hard landing? We saw it coming, and we're hardly Paul Krugman. Our mistake was to underestimate the depth of the depression or "Great Recession" -- which was what they called the Great Depression for its first couple of years. We thought $25 would be the cut-off, not $20 or even less, as it is now.
So we, too, have some very good wines that must be discounted for clearance. Whether we reorder from the producers in question is a matter of their realism on pricing. If they remain fixed on their 2007 prices, then ciao ciao, bambini.
Customers -- our customers, the retailers and restaurant guys -- are having their own brand of hard times. All you have to do in New York is look at the exalted restos that offer deeply discounted prix fixe menus, or those which have changed their name, menu and price points to cope with the new reality. One startling example is David Burke's new eatery on the Upper East Side, FishTail. It focuses on seafood and posts prices far less extravagant than its sister restaurant one block south, David Burke's Townhouse.
Plenty of these guys are just scraping by because their clientele no longer has the money or stomach for $100+ bottles at restaurant table or $40 ones at home. They want a nice bottle with dinner, but they're willing to trade down. And in many cases, no doubt, discovering that the bottle costing one-half what they used to pay is really about as good as the expensive one. The inevitable thought will occur: "Why should I go back to spending more than I need to?"
For those of us who haven't received any TARP money, this mentality is going to persist a long long while.
Posted on November 20, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)