|
When I go into a wine retailer with some friends, looking for a bottle to take along to a party, I like to sit back and examine the psychology of the choice making. It's often the cause of more stress than pleasure and goes something like this:
“Jonny, you know about wine – what’s good and cheap”I say nothing and carry on watching. They thrash around the store, scanning the shelves wildly for something to pop its head up. Frustration soon sets in. The first thing that gets established is that they want red. Fine. Easy. Then they look at the countries and ask me whether Chilean wine is good. “Some of it.” I say. To which the response is: “ You’re not being very helpful are you.” No. “ Right.” one of them says. “ Jacobs Creek. That’s all right isn’t it?” “Only cause you’ve seen it on telly.” I say unenthusiastically. “Hardy’s?”“Only cause you’ve seen it on a billboard.”“ All right. Ernest and Julio Gallo?”“ Only cause you’ve seen it on telly. Come on, it’s Macdonalds. The Empire.”“ God Jonny, you’re such a snob.”“ Come on choose!” Yaps someone else holding a bottle of “Oxford Landing.” “I’ll just get this one” someone says picking up a bottle of Lindemans- “it looks all right and it’s a quid more expensive than that one so it will probably be better.”I bury my face in my hands. The point I’m making is that so many people, through no fault of their own seem to buy their wines by just going for something they know, picking up a label they recognise because its been advertised, or because some marketing person has plastered a ‘crazy’ label on, in order to attract a buyers attention. Things like ‘Hogs Breath’ or ‘Bloody Good Red’. ‘Power’ labels like Jacobs Creek are attractive to buyers because it allows them to play it safe. There is a sense of familiarity. They are also bold, clear and unfussy, putting the grape variety on the front in huge letters: CABERNET SHIRAZ or VIOGNIER. They are in other words, well advertised. Now don’t get me wrong, some larger producers Like ‘Torres’ make perfectly good wine but I sense that big brand labels limit peoples awareness of other possibilities. I don’t think there is anything snobby about being picky.The fact is that we live in a world in which we crave the bold and the instantaneous, hence the 'punchy' branding from the big boys. But most wine labels are not really like that. They require a bit more time and consideration. Many people entering retailers, myself included, are confused by the choice and how complicated many of the labels are if we aren’t familiar with the wines. For European labels the classification systems and domains are often totally incomprehensible and give the novice little insight. The Germans and Italians are particularly confusing. Some wines tell you so little about what’s inside that its no wonder it gets left on the shelf. This gives a sense of exclusion and puts people off trying them. Some labels are getting much clearer and are moving with the times, like ‘Leitz’ Reisling from Rheingau which I found very clear. Perhaps if labels can tell a better story in terms of where the wine comes from, the name of the producer, what kind of grapes varieties are in it, how its made, how sweet or dry it is etc, then people might go less for what they know and more for what they want. The solution needs to come either from the retailers or the producers.The retailers need to give people the opportunity to understand everything that is written on the label from the term Beerenauslese to Appellation contrôllée. Information boards or ‘keys’ to what’s on the label might help. Its all about giving the customer total information – but quickly and accessibly. In terms of the producers, it would be unreasonable to suggest some kind of paradigm shift in the way that labels are designed however a ‘universal’ label on the back of all wines with clear indicators as to origin, varietals etc, would help, not least so all consumers around the world know that the product conforms to basic standards. This would arguably empower the customer a bit more, encourage people to try new things and I won’t get shouted at for finding Hardy’s ‘Nottage Hill’ dull as ditchwater. Cheers!
|
