More than a while ago, I started offering some thoughts on the state of wine writing today. In case you haven’t noticed, wine journalism/writing is in peril. Like the wine industry in general, the wine writing world is in a state of flux. Not too long ago, there were dozens (hundreds?) of semi-regular wine columns in local, regional, and national newspapers. Now? Such columns can b counted on one hand.
If you are a millennial (or younger), I will pause for you to Google “newspaper”. (if you can tear yourself away from your various feeds log enough, that is…).
[I probably just typed something egregiously out of touch that my teenage son just passed out from rolling his eyes so fervently…]
National wine publications have long been in decline (although still hanging on), and even wine blogs (like this one) have been supplanted by “influencers” on various social media outlets. The written word has been replaced by flashy videos, usually 30 seconds (or less) in length.
Part of the problem, I contend, is wine writing itself, however, as writers and publishers seem more concerned with “clicks” and “views” than actual good writing and thoughtful pieces.
So, a couple of years ago or so, I started publishing some of the articles I have found around the interwebs, articles, that underscore (at least for me) the demise of the quality of the written word when it comes to wine.
If this seems like I am rushing out to my porch to scream “Get off my lawn!” while clutching to my latest copy of Noble Rot, you are probably right, but I like to think it is a bit deeper than that. While I firmly believe that wine should appeal to all, I also feel that wine should not relinquish what makes it different than almost every other product, that behind every bottle there are myriad stories to tell, stories that are not easily reduced to a 20 second TikTok video.
So, here I am, to point out another couple journalistic “gems” that border on malpractice. I do not pretend to be some sort of grand poohbah when it comes to writing in general or the subject of wine in particular. And I also understand that many of these writers are struggling to get by in a world now seemingly dominated by those “influencers” and soon to be overrun by artificial intelligence.
But.
Come on.
First, we have a little gem from Food & Wine that was published about six months ago as many were shopping for sparkling wine for the year-end celebration. The article, “Look for These 2 Letters on the Label to Buy Better Champagne”, contended that it was fairly easy to determine the degree of quality of a champagne simply by examining the label.
While I do agree that there are some clues to be had to the relative quality of a champagne by closely reading the label, the author in this piece claimed that “Two simple letters: RM” could help you distinguish between a wine of great character and, well, the others.
The author goes onto explain that “RM” stands for “Récoltant-Manipulant” which indicates, simply, that the wine was produced by “A grower-maker [of] Champagne [and] the use of estate-grown fruit.” In other words, it’s a bottle of “Grower Champagne” or “Farmer Fizz”, wines made by the growers of the fruit.
Great. So far so good. The author has clearly done at least a modicum of research and has championed the cause-célèbre of nearly every champagne-loving sommelier in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some grower champagne, but is it categorically better than the other types of champagne produced?
[For the record, there are four such categories: NM (Négociant-Manipulant), big houses (e.g., Veuve Clicquot, Moët et Chandon, Laurent Perrier, to name a few) that purchase most of their fruit from growers. CM (Coopérative de Manipulant) a cooperative that collectively gathers fruit from regional growers and produces wine under the name of the collective (Mailly Grand Cru and Nicolas Feuillatte are perhaps the two most widely known). And RC (Récoltant-Coopérateur), which, honestly, is rarely seen anywhere other than the producer’s basement, where almost all of the sales occur.]
OK. Fine.
There is no quote from a large producer, no thoughts from a grower-producer, but there is a rather lengthy quote from someone who calls herself “The Bubbleista“: “Grower Champagnes are so spectacular because you can taste the inherent zeal and commitment required to intentionally metamorphize from a grape-growing viticulturist to a winemaking vigneron in every bottle. At the heart of RM Champagnes is a devotion to farming, which means pride in the wines from what they harvest.”
OK. Wait.
There is a ton to unpack there without even getting into “The Bubbleista” (~6.5k followers on Instagram). But I won’t since I enjoy my sanity. Instead, I will push back.
Grower champagne isn’t inherently different in quality, and I sincerely doubt that many people can taste the difference between a grower champagne and “corporate” bubbles. While I do support growers and the idea behind RM wines (a lot), to suggest that they are categorically better than all other types of champagne is at best subjective. I have had glorious (and not so glorious) wines from all the different types of producers in Champagne (yes, even a few RC wines), but to state that one can taste “the inherent zeal and commitment” and the “devotion to farming… [and] pride” in grower champagne?
Come on.
One more…
In this space I have lamented the apparent shift by the wine marketing gate-keepers away from thoughtful writing and journalism toward a more nebulous “influencer” paradigm. In short, the widely held belief seems to be that wine marketing efforts (and dollars) should be directed away from “traditional” media (including yours truly) and toward social media influencers–those with thousands (or even millions) of followers.
While, like most forms of advertising, there seems to be little “proof” that such forms of advertising “work” but there sure seems to be some anecdotal evidence, particularly at the upper end of the spectrum.
Case in Point.
In an article from earlier this year on Town & Country, the mere appearance of a wine in association with Taylor Swift, caused the wine to sell out across the U.S. While I would not consider myself a “Swiftie” I harbor no ill-will toward her or her fans (although, after reading the article, “A French Wine Sold Out After Being Spotted in Taylor Swift’s End of an Era Documentary“, I question how old the average “Swiftie” might be, but I digress).
What bothers me is not that Taylor Swift likes Sancerre, I love it myself, but rather that her apparent(?) affinity for the wine could cause that wine to sell out rather swiftly (pun intended). What does bother me, though, is that many (most?) so-called “influencers” are willing to sell their “opinion” for the right price. While I imagine that there are scrupulous influencers out there that will only endorse products that they like, I know for a fact that a primary driver of an endorsement is good old fashioned cash.
[By the way, I am not suggesting that Taylor Swift was paid for her “endorsement” of Sancerre, but I imagine that most paid influencers would kill to have the that type of “influence”.]
Of course, this is not true in all instances but given the number of influencers that have quit their jobs to earn a living through influencing (yes, it pained my to type that sentence), there certainly seems to be money to be had.
As I have asked before: is this what wine producers really want? Of course, they want/need to sell their wine, but what should happen when the cash runs out? Or when the influencer becomes too expensive? Or when another product, say, White Claw, outbids, say, Sancerre? That is, of course, assuming that a given influencer is actually influencing sales.
If all this comes of as sour grapes from one of the “affected”, that is certainly not the way it is intended. but for anyone that has ever visited a winery, talked to a wine maker, or tasted a fantastic bottle of wine, I ask this question: Do you think the maker of your favorite wine would prefer to sell all of their wine by being part of an influencer video or sell it through the recounting of the story behind the wine and what makes it unique? That is an honest question.
Unfortunately, I will be back with more soon. Far too soon.
the drunken cyclist 