This is how dumb Americans can be --
No, no, let me set this up properly.
A few years ago I met a Tuscan landowner and producer of wine and olive oil (naturalmente). He had a posh agriturismo (let not the name dismay, an agriturismo is a tax dodge). His marketing person had told me that his goal was to get guests to pay to harvest grapes and, later olives. He confirmed this. We laughed. The marketing person then was an American too. "You're gonna make them pay to help you harvest!?" We talked about all those Poles and Romanians who would be jobless if this outlandish idea took hold.
FF to today. The producer and his current marketing person told me that, certo, Americans were paying 100 euros extra to spend 2 days "helping" harvest the grapes. OK, they probably got in the way more than they really helped. Still.
I asked what sort of idiots these people were.
"They're 60 year old people who have never done anything like this, and they were thrilled."
"Oh, they're the sort of Americans who walk around with a smile all the time and are enthusiastic about everything - even being exploited?"
"Yes!" Then they told me I wasn't a typical American. Jesus, I thought, are we all supposed to be that dumb?
"They're not like you! You're not a real American!" What, they've been Twittering with Sarah Palin?
I wondered where these poor saps could have come from. Besides Ohio. Anybody from Ohio is just so tickled to leave the place. I asked, "Well, what did they get in return?"
"Well, we gave them lunch." (!!!)
"What did you give them?"
"Lots of pasta."
"What else?" Blank looks. "A bottle of oil? Some of your cheapest wine?"
They looked at each other hilariously.
"You cheap bastards!"
They laughed and exclaimed, "They loved it! They thought it was a great privilege!"
I told them that if I ever visited them (and I do like their wines), I would avoid harvest time. If I didn't, I'd pretend I didn't speak English, because I'd be highly tempted to start an uprising of the exploited masses (of senior citz).
En bref, mes amis, that is how stupid Americans are supposed to be.
Chinese people, your big moment is coming.

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)