Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/230154
widely read magazine article sounded alarm bells about the recent wave of sweet, simple wines to hit the U.S. market: "Flavored 'pop' wines have arrived and are showing up on liquor-store shelves in ever-increasing numbers and varieties," it announced. As producers raked in the profits, traditionalists bemoaned the dumbing-down of wine. "I don't approve of these wines," a Chicago wine retailer said. "They're just soft drinks with alcohol." While you may think the article was referring to products such as moscato and sweet reds, that conclusion would be about four decades off. The quotes above were taken from an article called "And Now, Pop Wines," published in the May 24, 1971, issue of Time magazine. Back then, pop wines went by names such as Boone's Farm, Spañada, Annie Green Springs and Ripple. Today's versions include not only sweet and flavored wines such as Arbor Mist Peach Moscato and Barefoot Sweet Red, but also a slew of marketing-driven wines with clever names and packaging designed to appeal to consumers AT A GLANCE + "Pop wines" – non-serious wines that are often flavored or sweet – are causing concern among some industry leaders and analysts. + Their potential effects on the U.S. wine industry were discussed at the 2013 Wine Industry Financial Symposium in Napa. + Some vintners believe that pop wines are tarnishing Brand California's image. + Pop wines may be stealing market share from nonwine beverages, such as cocktails. w w w. v w m m e d i a.com unconcerned with details like sense of place. Despite the fact that pop wines have been around for years in one form or another, the modern flood of products has some vintners and industry analysts concerned about their effects on the future of the U.S. wine industry. INDUSTRY DEBATE The topic of pop wines was raised at the Wine Industry Financial Symposium (WIFS), held in Napa on Sept. 24, 2013. During a panel discussion, Steve Spadarotto, vice president and general manager of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in Napa, expressed concerns that the U.S. wine industry may be repeating the mistakes of Brand Australia in over-promoting cheap, simple wines. However, Russell Joy, president and general manager of Patz & Hall winery in Sonoma, said he doesn't see the harm in pop wines. "We need to give consumers the wines (they) want, how they want them," he said. To dig deeper into the topic of pop wines, we followed up with Spadarotto and Joy, along with fellow WIFS panelist Bill Leigon, president of Jamieson Ranch Vineyards in Napa and the creator of the Rex Goliath and Cycles Gladiator wines. We also invited wine economist Mike Veseth and Linsey Gallagher, vice president of international marketing for Wine Institute, to join the conversation. THE SOUL OF WINE In his book "Wine Wars: The Curse of the Blue Nun, the Miracle of Two Buck Chuck, and the Revenge of the Terroirists," Veseth explores the opposing forces of what he calls "vins de terroir" and "vins de marché," engaged in battle for the soul of wine. While vins de terroir are created to express a sense of place, he said, vins de marché (market wines) are simply made to sell. "They're the opposite of wines where you start with the terroir and you find out what you can make Wine economist and author Mike Veseth warns that too much focus on pop wines can hurt the industry. best in that place," he explained. "These are wines that begin with focus groups, and you try to identify where the market would be, then work backward to what you have to do to make a wine that would fill that niche." While Veseth acknowledged that "market wines" are nothing new, he said it could be harmful to the industry to allow pop wines to get too much of a grip on the American palate. "If the pop wines become our main idea of wine, then it becomes dangerous," he said. "It can also be dangerous if a brand gets too focused on the pop wine side of its business, because it can undermine the brand. "People used to think you needed to know what the grape variety was, the vintage year and where the wine came from," he added, but rule-breaking blends and multivintage wines could change that. Millennials are helping to drive the trend, Veseth said, "because they don't seem to be as hung up on tradition and wedded to chardonnay as other generations." One upside for the wine industry, however, is that pop wines may be luring younger adults away from cocktails, he said. J a n - Feb 2014 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M A N A G EM EN T 37