A few weeks ago, my wife convinced me that we should go visit my family in Michigan over the Memorial Day weekend. I love my family as much as the next guy, but I guess there was a reason I went away to school and never really moved back. While Philadelphia is not the most cosmopolitan city on the planet, I certainly enjoy living there and find that when I return to the Midwest, the diversity and vibrancy of Philly is certainly underscored in comparison.
When we are away from Philly, I also miss….
My cellar.
Shallow? Perhaps. Pathetic? Maybe. A sign that I am an alcoholic? Probably. LIke most people into wine, I imagine, I have an intimate connection with those bottles of wine a scant twelve steps down through the basement door. When I travel, however, I am at the mercy of others when it comes to having some wine with dinner. As a remedy, I usually go out to the local supermarket and pick up a few bottles of wine to consume during my stay. It could just be my own latent paranoia, but this singular act seems to be greeted with a bit of disdain by most of my Midwestern friends and relatives.
My Sister’s Wine Storage
(I can not pass up the opportunity to point out that in Michigan, in fact most states, one can simply go to the supermarket to buy wine. This is of course not the case in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where even in 2013 one must purchase all wine from the state controlled monopoly stores.)
If I were to “make a beer run”, however, this would not only be accepted, but even embraced. In fact, it might even be met with additional “orders” or even a request to tag along. When I go out for wine, though, I am on my own and treated as if I were running out in a Lexus to get some caviar and go shopping for pearls.
The message is fairly clear: “We like beer. Beer is good. You want some what? Wine? Oh, you’re just a pretentious East Coast snob” (which of course is likely true, but that is irrelevant).
My sister’s “cellar”–I promptly put the Moët in the fridge and popped it that night. I am not a huge fan of the White Star blend, but it was fantastic! My sister took one sip, said “Yuck”, and poured it down the drain. She then went and got some white zinfandel.
Based on my rather small sample size (two, if you count my mother), I came to a conclusion: While wine with dinner seems to be much more widely accepted on both of the coasts, in what many people refer to as “the fly over states”, wine is still seen as elitist.
Now I know that is an oversimplification and a rash generalization, but as I looked for some statistics to legitimize my theory, it seemed to hold up. In fact, I found this graphic on Chartsbin.com:
Basically, the darker the color, the higher the wine consumption (in relation to beer consumption). This map seemed to confirm my theory–people that live in states near the two coasts tend to drink more wine, while those in the middle of the country drink more beer. This certainly could be explained away by the fact that most of the wine growing regions in the U.S. are on or near one of the two coasts, and therefore wine is more of a part of the local culture, but for some reason there seemed to be more to it.
As I continued to examine the above map, I noticed that it was strikingly similar to another map that recently received considerably more exposure:
This second map is the electoral college map from the 2012 presidential election, with the blue states voting for the Democrat and the red states for the Republican.
There are certain notable exceptions (Idaho), but there seems to be a strong correlation between relative wine consumption and voting in the 2012 presidential election. While this does not mean that if you walk into a bar and see someone holding a glass of Chardonnay that he is a supporter of Obamacare or the woman with a Coors Lite is for smaller government, it does seem to warrant further exploration.
While many will cite the old adage “correlation does not imply causation” I would add that while it does not “imply” causation, it sure does wave its arms, jump up and down, and scream “look over here, look over here!”
What do you think? Is there a connection between levels of wine consumption and political ideology? Is it just a coincidence?
[I must throw in the caveat that these are not my data–like many other data hacks, I found something in a Google search and took it for the truth.]
the drunken cyclist 
I’m now afraid…
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Afraid?
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Firstly shocked at your sister’s waste of the drop. But your political observations are very astute. I wonder if you could overlay a map of percentage of citizens who have traveled outside the country and if it shows the same pattern as well. I am pretty sure that you would be able to draw a similar sort of pattern over Canada and Australia as well.
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I was shocked at the sister as well–I told her it was sacrilegious… That is an interesting point about travel–I will try and see if such data exist!
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Jeff, this will be a tough one. To answer your specific question myself and a number of my friends in CT, NJ and NY, who definitely drink more wine than beer, would not fit into the colors of the electoral college – which I guess only proves that we are an exception?
Leaving politics aside, and looking just at the wine/beer coverage, I can tell you that I’m quite pleased with the color of my state (CT), and you, my friend, have to increase the wine consumption as your state is clearly lagging behind… : )
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I certainly know that there is not a strong correlation on the individual level, but the state level to me seemed rather striking.
As for the PA issue, almost all the wine consumption, I imagine, happens in or around Philly and Pittsburgh. In between is what is known as “Pennsytucky”.
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Just a coinkidinc, nothing more, nothing less.
Ted
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Possible, but I am not so sure. I am not saying that drinking wine makes one a Democrat, but there seems to be something about a “wine culture” perhaps….
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Having lived in Arizona for the last 25 years, of course, my eye was immediately drawn to the Grand Canyon state. I was happy to see that we are a shade or two darker than the other so called ‘fly-over’ states (including PA). And it’s no surprise that the land of McCain and Arpaio isn’t changing color on the political map anytime soon. So, based on my sample size of one (state) your hypothesis must be complete hooey! 🙂
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Certainly every state does not match up perfectly (I think Idaho is the most Republican state in the country), but I think there is far too much here to be merely a “coincidence”. I am certainly not suggesting that increased wine consumption will lead an individual to becoming a liberal, but I am struggling to find a hypothesis that works here.
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Couldn’t your sister have just handed you her glass? Family germs don’t really count. Same DNA and all. I agree 100% with your assessment of the flyover states with the exception of Dallas, mostly because everyone here these days is from California or the easy coast! Good luck with your “obli-cation”.
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I know! By the time I had realized what she had done, it was too late, and I was in shock. the “obli-cation” (great term) is almost over!
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Love the picture of the wine attic. you might be surprised at how many people keep their wine in the cupboard over the fridge. (worst place)
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Wine attic–love that term too!
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The wine/beer map fits us and the people I know in AZ, but not the political map. Our friends from the midwest are definitely beer drinkers. And we are wine drinkers. So we should probably just make all future political decisions based on who drinks what. Cheers!
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It would be much more civil if decisions were made that way perhaps!
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My parents were both born in MI, and most of my extended family is there, so I can relate to what you are feeling. I have made many a grocery store stop… but the family is starting to turn the corner and look and me with amused curiosity to see what I brought. Some of them even try it! And I try to keep in mind that the local wines produced in MI tend to be much sweeter than I am used to at home, so I try to purchase sweeter ones to lure in the MI tastebuds. As sweet as you can stand, my friend, and with patience, you might get them there. I will never forget the time my aunt picked up a bottle of Reunite to surprise me and my cousin blurted out, “That’s my favorite wine!”
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Ha! I just stopped and got a bottle of Vouvray and a bottle of Moscato–I hope they are sweet enough!
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If only it were a direct correlation. I would convert all my beer-drinking friends to wine…domini, domini, domini “you’re all Democrats now!” Other possible explanations for the diff between the coasts and God’s country might be immigrant heritage; lots of Italians and Spanish settled the west. Cold north countries of Europe settled the Midwest. I can’t explain the Anglos and the east coast. Or, does it have more to do with age? I’m guessing the population in the Midwest is older than the coasts. My parents in Ohio were young and hip when America began its wine revival in the 70’s, and they’re big wine drinkers (and mostly Repubs.) But my grandparents drank mostly beer and whiskey like people did before the 70’s. (They were Repubs, too.) I’m guessing there are a lot of factors, but it’s an interesting theory, and another great blog!
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I have been tossing this around for days, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. Most people see wine as an elite, “rich person’s drink” and most of those people tend to lean to the right. Few people on the other end of the economic scale drink wine, I imagine, and most of those who vote tend to vote democrat. So I am stumped…
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I think the major problem with your theory is that Philly is first and foremost a beer town. Not a Coors Light town, of couse, but a beer town all the same.
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I agree that there is likely more beer consumed in Philly, but when compared to other cities in the Midwest, Philly probably blows them out of the water in wine consumption. this is a relative comparison, not an absolute one….
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I recently read a biography about Joseph Stalin that opened with an interesting discussion about the correlation between the personalities of various regions of Europe and the sorts of alcohol the people in those regions tend to drink. Basically it broke down like so: Southern regions (Italy, Spain) = wine = laid back, happy go lucky, slightly lazy but trustworthy types who drink for fun and to enjoy life with their friends and loved ones. Middle regions (Germany, Great Britain, Northern France) = beer = down to earth, hard working, no nonsense types who drink for fun and to unwind after a hard day’s work. Northern regions (Scandinavia, Russia) = hard liquor = apathetic, bitter, angry types who drink to forget, as much as possible, the misery of their lives. As with all generalizations I’m sure there are many exceptions to this but it seemed to make sense.
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I have seen similar analyses: The alcohol you drink is largely based on what fruit, grains, etc. are readily available where you live. I imagine living way up there has to be pretty miserable….
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You made my Sunday morning read! Midwest girl who escaped. Love Philly, now living in wine country! But also loved my cocktail city of New Orleans!
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You are my hero, you know….
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Jeff,
Since I still live in state of your youth and as I watch the planes fly over head, I have to smile at your “computer findings,” as I am sure that others could do similar searches and find opposite “truths.” As I now live, one city over from your “home city,” I pondered, “did I make a mistake?” Should I sell my Chateau Moutons and replace them with with cold beer? I think not, and I am glad that I have found many friends in the Midwest that have wonderful cellars and are wonderful conversationalists as we go out to dinner. I do agree that Michigan is a “beer state,” but they are becoming known for “craft” beer and I liken this revolution, to the discovery of wine in this country. The classification of “artisan” is no longer used just for wine and cheese, and that is a great thing. I will keep proselytizing wine every where I go, no matter the occasion, even if some of my friends still believe in the old billboard advertisement that was near the Detroit River which proclaimed “Drink Canada Dry” and they read it as “Drink Canada, Dry.”
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I agree, you can find just about anything to support any position on the internet these days. I did spend quite a bit of searching to either support or disprove the first of these maps, but I found absolutely zero (there actually was one article, but it was so poorly written and difficult to follow that i discounted it almost immediately). Normally, I would like to look at the data myself before “presenting” but in this case I simply could not find any….
When I was in HS, we certainly did our share of trying to dry out our neighbors to the South (I trust you are one of the few that know what country is directly south of Detroit).
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As I have stated a couple of times probably in my writings, I grew up when people would see the billboard “Drink Canada Dry” and think it was a rallying cry to “Drink Canada, Dry.”
– John
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Cool research, Jeff: I love the US wine consumption map, it really tells the story.
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Thanks Stefano–I can’t explain it, but it is fascinating (at least to me)….
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Long live wine! And Obama! Woohoo!
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Wine is good….
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We’ll leave at that then shall we? 😀
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My in-laws live in the Midwest and there are definitely more beer drinkers than wine drinkers around their area, but they all appreciate my love of wine.
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It is great to be supported. All my relatives find my love of wine to be pretentious.
Or maybe they just find me too pretentious…..
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I’ve thought about this long and hard (aka 2-3 minutes). Great post and i love how this gives me the opportunity to comment in sweeping generalities. The Middle of te country has always had a disdain for the coasts and refer to them as elitist and wine is in that wheelhouse. Even in my home town of Chicago there’s a huge Second (or third) City mentality where there’s a jealousy of NY and SF that rules preferences despite logic. So it could be logical that wine, baseball, fashion, music – and politics – may be clearly better on the coasts, they choose the opposite.
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Interesting take–choosing to eschew the culture of the coasts….
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I enjoyed the detail on the wine vs. beer consumption cahrt – 1 gallon of wine vs. 1 gallon of beer : was that the serving size? Also, the ratio of beer to wine even in the highest wine consumption state is around 6:1; so none of us wine fans have anything to be proud of. I did also notice that Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and Michigan (!) have the same color on both charts. Hmmmm…
When your sister visits your house, will you have some white zin around, just to save the Champagne from the drain?
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I almost did not “run with it” based on the gallon consumption metric, but then I theorized that this is probably how the statistics are reported in this country. It is not a “real” comparison, though. A gallon of beer is 10 2/3 bottles (12 oz) and a gallon of wine is just over five bottles (750 ml). It is certainly “easier” for a group of say, 5 people, to go through 10 beers than five bottles of wine.
I know you meant to say “if your sister visits your house”–we are the ones on both sides that seem to do all the traveling…
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The wine / generous link probably holds up, overall. After all, wine is largely about sharing (who ever shared a can of beer?). There is nothing surprising that those most prone to share would both prefer wine and live in blue states.
A note about PA’s relatively low consumption: it is probably not true, and if it is, it is because Quaker PA does everything to discourage the purchase of wine (the famous stores you mention). But, anecdotal evidence suggests that much of the wine consumed in PA is purchased in DE and NJ, and thus would reinforce the consumption in those states, while PA would look relatively “light.”
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I dunno. People in the Midwest seem to be rather generous and inviting, but that theory certainly deserves more thought….
Trying to figure out anything in PA is an exercise in futility….
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