America the Beautiful Wine Drinkers
The Fourth of July. Founding Fathers, the Birth of a Nation. A lot has changed in the last 200 years, and not only politically. Pretty much everything about modern wine was introduced in these intervening centuries.
The Founding Fathers were wine fans. Benjamin Franklin told us "wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. " Jefferson warned "no nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober, where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage."
Wine was pretty important way back then, but it had a bit of a falling out. Beer became the beverage of choice for most Americans, because it was cheap and easy to make. But wine held on.
The European wave of immigration brought more wine lovers to our shores. These were not collectors like Jefferson, they were wine drinkers. They grew up with a bit of wine at every evening meal, and they brought the habit with them.
They settled around the country, trying to find the ideal blend of climate for the grapes, and opportunity for their wallets. Those that made it as far west as California found that making wine could be profitable.
Others tried, too often in vain, to make a go of it further east. The sunshine and fertile valleys of California won out, and for decades it was pretty much the only commercially viable location for making wine.
We all know that has changed. The Pacific Northwest has a thriving wine industry, as does New York State. Other States are catching on as they work out the vagaries of grape growing and wine production, suited to their climates.
And yet, California still shines both in the market, and in the minds of millions of wine drinkers.
To point out the technological advances in wine for the last 200 years would take much more than the breadth of this blog. Suffice it to say that only the most rudimentary aspects of wine making remain the same.
The past few decades have seen the most change. Not only in technology, or rising viticultural areas, but in the most fundamental of ways. Americans are drinking more wine.
A lot more wine. In fact our consumption is growing so steadily, that in a few years the US will be the largest consumer of wine.
This has world wide implications. As consumers Americans are like no others in the world. We have plenty of disposable income, and we vote with our wallets. Plenty of fine consumer products have failed in the US simply because we have not taken to them for one reason or another.
For each of these there are items whose success defies explanation.
Our taste in wine is changing the face of wine around the world. Our love of highly alcoholic wines in particular is being felt in the industry. As we grow to the largest consumer base in the world, more and more producers will cater to our taste. This is the invisible hand of the market at work.
So what is the down side? After all we are increasingly flooded by wines that are to our taste. But what if our tastes change? What if we grow tired of all wines tasting the same?
The joy of wine is in great part due to its incredible diversity. A world where all the wines are the same threatens this diversity. And given the approaching holiday it is important to remember that freedom of choice is one of our hallmark tenets.
So do your part, enjoy some diversity. Look around at the melting pot that is the US and celebrate this 4th of July with wines of the world.
The Founding Fathers were wine fans. Benjamin Franklin told us "wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. " Jefferson warned "no nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober, where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage."
Wine was pretty important way back then, but it had a bit of a falling out. Beer became the beverage of choice for most Americans, because it was cheap and easy to make. But wine held on.
The European wave of immigration brought more wine lovers to our shores. These were not collectors like Jefferson, they were wine drinkers. They grew up with a bit of wine at every evening meal, and they brought the habit with them.
They settled around the country, trying to find the ideal blend of climate for the grapes, and opportunity for their wallets. Those that made it as far west as California found that making wine could be profitable.
Others tried, too often in vain, to make a go of it further east. The sunshine and fertile valleys of California won out, and for decades it was pretty much the only commercially viable location for making wine.
We all know that has changed. The Pacific Northwest has a thriving wine industry, as does New York State. Other States are catching on as they work out the vagaries of grape growing and wine production, suited to their climates.
And yet, California still shines both in the market, and in the minds of millions of wine drinkers.
To point out the technological advances in wine for the last 200 years would take much more than the breadth of this blog. Suffice it to say that only the most rudimentary aspects of wine making remain the same.
The past few decades have seen the most change. Not only in technology, or rising viticultural areas, but in the most fundamental of ways. Americans are drinking more wine.
A lot more wine. In fact our consumption is growing so steadily, that in a few years the US will be the largest consumer of wine.
This has world wide implications. As consumers Americans are like no others in the world. We have plenty of disposable income, and we vote with our wallets. Plenty of fine consumer products have failed in the US simply because we have not taken to them for one reason or another.
For each of these there are items whose success defies explanation.
Our taste in wine is changing the face of wine around the world. Our love of highly alcoholic wines in particular is being felt in the industry. As we grow to the largest consumer base in the world, more and more producers will cater to our taste. This is the invisible hand of the market at work.
So what is the down side? After all we are increasingly flooded by wines that are to our taste. But what if our tastes change? What if we grow tired of all wines tasting the same?
The joy of wine is in great part due to its incredible diversity. A world where all the wines are the same threatens this diversity. And given the approaching holiday it is important to remember that freedom of choice is one of our hallmark tenets.
So do your part, enjoy some diversity. Look around at the melting pot that is the US and celebrate this 4th of July with wines of the world.
posted by Wineguy at 9:32 AM
2 Comments:
it's "whose success"
So it is.
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