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Wine 101
Champagnes are Going, Going, Gone!
I'm not talking record breaking auction prices...I'm referring to total sales and market size. Back in the day...no self-respecting baby boomer would be caught dead without a bottle of bubbly on hand during the month of December. Today, not so much. It seems our fascination with Champagne (and all things bubbly) has lost its fizzle. Beginning in the early 1990's sales of this celebratory beverage have dipped..with dramatic dips around the economic catastrophe of 2008-09...with a nearly 20% decline in the US market alone in 2008, and again by another 30% in 2009 (in the largest two markets: UK and the USA).
WHY: Well, perhaps it is that we have less to be celebrating right now...if you haven't noticed, the economy world-wide SUCKS, or maybe it was that the greed of French Wine producers has finally caught up with them; after all, for decades champagne prices have risen well above the rate of annual inflation. Or, could it be that today's driving market demographic (24-36 year olds) have simply turned their back on the beverage which reportedly got Winston Churchill through WWII. No matter what the reason...champagne has certainly lost its charm.
Why are some wines $8 and others are $18-$48-$1208 per bottle?
We get asked this question quite a bit...and the answer is both simple...and complicated...the simple answer is what most every person on the planet knows about economics, whether-or-not they have ever set foot in a college lecture hall: enter Supply and Demand. Be it clever marketing, irresistible packaging, mouth watering fruit, or some social status phenomenon...the number of consumers who want to buy them...outnumber the wines available for sale...so these lucky/brilliant wineries can (and will) charge more...you would too, so would we. However, we also need to factor in the type of grape (s) being used to produce the wine...Pinot Noir grapes cost significantly more (per ton) then let's say...Concord, Frontenac, or Malbec. Pricing can be determined by availability, current market trends, contractual obligations, and how difficult it is to grow a good (excellent) crop. For example... Concord grows wild...Pinot Noir is very, very difficult to grow...and growing it well is another challenge all together. Concord Grapes cost about $491 per ton....Pinot Noir $2700. That's about 5.5X more money per ton...makes sense that Pinot Noir costs more than Concord right? But wait, being the wine savvy consumer that you are..you've noticed that Grampa's Concord cost $6.99 and your 2005 Domaine Drouhin "Laurene" Willamette Valley Pinot Noir weighs in at $74 per bottle...more than 10X the price. WHY? If you think you know, get back to us at MYWINESELLAR@YAHOO.COM...we'll post some of your responses and then get to the "industry" answer in a while.Thanks for reading WINE 101
Champagne Terms:
Let's face it...it's not easy selecting champagne. The terminology is confusing and there are hundreds of brands from all over the world to choose from. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with some of the common terms used to describe the different types and styles of champagne. This should help, but your best bet is still to seek the advice of a knowledgeable wine merchant who can spend time with you to determine the Bubbly that's just right for you. Terms are arranged from driest to sweetest.NATURE...rare, but the driest of all bubbly
BRUT...completely dry, always drier than extra dry
SECCO...Italian for dry
EXTRA DRY...actually refers to a grade of sweetness containing between 1 and 2% sugar solution
DEMI-SEC...French for "semi-dry" again this is misleading because it really indicates a grade of sweetness with up to 6% sugar syrup solution
SEMI-SECCO...Italian term similar to an extra dry but may be as sweet as a Demi-sec. Key thing to remember here is that this is usually drier than an Asti and always drier than something labeled Abboccato
ASTI...a town in Piemonte, Italy famous for its sweet sparkling wine made from the Muscat grape
ASTI SPUMANTE...several years ago the producers in Asti purposefully dropped the word "spumante" from their wines to distinguish them from their competition abroad
SPUMANTE...Italian word for "Frothy or Sparkling" now used by producers outside of Italy to describe a sweet sparkling wine often made with the Muscat grape.
