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MANAGEMENT MARKET WATCH pranillo, but they were not domes- tic. We fell right through the crack." These days, Bokisch is finding it easier to sell his wines in California. In fact, he said his No. 1 county for sales is Napa. His house style and specialty grapes are landing him on trendy wine lists. "Our wine style is very Euro-focused, very Spain- focused," he said. "It's not an over- the-top California style, so I think where there are restaurants that were initially concerned about how we produce an albariño, but then discovered that it fit in very well with what their customers were interested in." Another trend that has helped Bokisch and other producers of lesser-known varieties is the devel- opment of restaurant lists that organize wines by style, or that include descriptions of the wines. "It demystifies for the consumer what they're going to experience," said Bokisch. "They find themselves in the 'aromatic white wine' section with rieslings and gewürztramin- ers, and they're not so concerned about whether they can pronounce albariño. They know it's an aro- matic white wine, and that's what they like." Expanded by-the-glass selec- tions create opportunities for quirky wines that are difficult to sell by the bottle. "If someone is terrified of buying a whole bottle of graciano, certainly one glass won't hurt them, and if they like it, they can buy the bottle," Bokisch explained. While he thinks Boomers are becoming more adventurous, the willingness of Millennials to try new things is reflective of a slightly dif- ferent way of approaching wine. "It just seems like (younger consum- ers) feel that it's OK to not know anything about a wine, and it's OK to be adventuresome … we have these consumers who are more comfortably insecure at a young age," Bokisch said. "They don't care if they can't say 10 things about the wine – they're comfortable just say- ing, 'I like it.' " For now, at least, the quirkiest wine lists are largely populated by Old World wines. Countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain have great variety to offer; some of the grapes are better for vinification than oth- ers, although many esoteric wines are also very affordable. Establishing authenticity and credibility remains a huge task for U.S. producers of rare grapes; while assyrtiko from Greece says "authentic," assyrtiko from Oregon says "experimental." American wineries such as Bokisch, which had the foresight to plant lesser-known varieties before they became fashionable, are best- poised to land on new-wave wine lists welcoming domestic represen- tation. Other U.S. producers must develop food-friendly styles that will suit young sommeliers' palates, or they may find themselves locked out of hot accounts packed with daring young drinkers. Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwm-online.com. 30 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT JULY - AUG 2012 WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM