Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/230154
"If you look at our industry and you compare Brand California to Brand Australia or any other wine-producing nation, what are we doing to the sustainability of our regional or country brand? "I remember in my Diageo days it used to drive me crazy, but wine quality was maybe a tertiary thought to these people. All they would say is 'great product, great positioning, great price – oh, and put some good juice in the bottle.' I think, unfortunately, that is the mindset behind these innovations – it's all about packaging, it's all about low price and they're flooding the market with this stuff. "To me, it's exactly what Brand Australia did, and if we continue to do that I think we're going to make ourselves even more susceptible to the burgeoning imports. If we don't take ourselves seriously, why would we expect (anyone else) to? If we allow all of our wines to be cutesy wines, I think we'll follow the same path that Brand Australia did." PROMOTING DIVERSITY Despite Spadarotto's concerns, Wine Institute's Gallagher sees little danger in California becoming the next Australia. WI's export program works with 175 wineries, ranging from small producers making their first export sales to huge companies such as E. & J. Gallo and The Wine Group. "I think we've all learned a lot of lessons from Australia," Gallagher said. "In our communications and our advertising, we are not all about cheap-and-cheerful by any stretch of the imagination. The pop brands are there, and they're part of the story, but they are certainly not the lead of the story. "Our communication objective for California is that we have great quality and diversity of wines at all price-points," she continued. Even so, Gallagher contends that lower-end, value-driven wines have their place. "They're part of the reason we hit 1.4 billion liters in Cali- fornia wine exports last year," she said. "I don't think it's anything to be embarrassed about. The more whimsical brands are bringing beverage drinkers and beer drinkers into the wine space. They may trade up, they may not, and in my opinion there's nothing wrong with that. If it increases per-capita consumption, it's a good thing. "I think that these more whimsical brands can absolutely coexist with Screaming Eagle and Opus One," she added. "They all contribute to the story of the quality and the diversity and value of California wines." T O YO U BR Y OU HT B G UG O R O U B w w w. v w m m e d i a.com BY St. Charles Missouri Joy, of Patz & Hall, agrees with Gallagher's assessment of pop wines. "I don't know what people are concerned about," he said. "Obviously Patz & Hall doesn't make pop wines, but as an observer and person in the industry, I'm not fearful." Joy cited a presentation given by Bob Trinchero at WIFS 20 years ago. "This was when white zinfandel was just screaming," he said. "Bob told the audience, 'We just do things a little bit differently here at Sutter Home … we make things that people actually want!' I've never forgotten that. There are people who have criticized our industry Wine Institute's Linsey Gallagher promotes Brand California in overseas markets with a message of quality and value at all price-points. February 4-7 NOTHING TO FEAR HT TO Y Russell Joy of Patz & Hall doesn't view pop wines as a threat to the industry. for not really supplying what consumers want, and that's exactly what we need to do." Whether or not pop-wine drinkers will eventually graduate to more serious wines is not certain, Joy said, but at least they'll be drinking wine. His tastes evolved beyond the Sutter Home White Zinfandel he drank as a young adult, and he suspects the same will happen with many Millennial wine drinkers. "They'll discover and learn, and their incomes will go up," Joy said. J a n - Feb 2014 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M A N A G EM EN T 39