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Home > Blogs > Uncorked > Archives > 2007 > January > 24 > Entry
New wine marketing scheme tough to swallow
I’ve got to admit, I don’t know what to make of this story in BrandWeek entitled “Design: Old Wine, New Bottles: Who Will Swallow It?”
Would you swallow this?
Next month, a New York company that calls itself “The Amazing Food Wine Co.” will launch “Wine That Loves,” a new wine brand that claims it “takes the guesswork out of pairing wine with food,” according to BrandWeek. That’s because the front labels will say things like “Wine That Loves Pizza” or “Wine That Loves Roasted Chicken,” etc.
The wines’ back label will rate tannins, flavor and acidity, but nowhere on the labels, apparently, will be be any information on trifling little things like the vintage, grape varietal or even where the grapes came from.
The magazine calls the new marketing initiative “another example of the trend of introducing the masses to experiences typically reserved for the wealthy. In this case, the job of the white-table cloth sommelier is done for you.”
Huh?
(Sigh) I must be a total wine geek to actually think those pesky little details such as grape, vintage, and place of birth actually matter. And about this “wealthy” crack — have these clowns taken a look at my bank account?
But hey, talk about total freedom for the winemakers: They could put ANY kind of grape juice from ANY vintage from ANYplace in the world, and no worries, mate — it’s all good.
Or at least, it all loves pizza.
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
Comments
By Mike
February 1, 2007 8:36 AM | Link to this
Wine that cheap isn’t worth drinking.Do I dare to guess that the bottle is without a cork or is the convenience of a screw top at play here? I am by no maens bashing affordable wines ( ie.Mondavi or Clos Du Bois both witch run on average about $20) but Wine that goes with pizza a brilliant marketing ploy but wine is about taste not marketing. How sad for the indusry.By wine-o
January 25, 2007 6:02 PM | Link to this
I think that this marketing is taking the “wine for dummies” aspect to new heights. In fact, I find it insulting, and not just because of the “only for wealthy people” comment, which makes no sense since they are by their own accounts going to hit the upper middle class wine buyer. Everyone is trying to make wine more accessible to the masses, because that is what Big Business wants to sell you. But just like every other mass market wine they are categorizing this wine to love Pizza or what have you, but by whose standards? Who decided this wine loved pizza, etc? Was it a trained sommelier, or a company trying to make a buck off of our lack of info/ laziness. It seems to me that for each step forward that we take in opening the world to wine and broadening horizons we take a step back in what is a thinly veiled attempt to find a niche that has nothing to do with one of the greatest things about wine: indiviuality. Don’t buy into it.By cathy
January 24, 2007 11:34 PM | Link to this
Huh. Well, when I was a young and total novice, before I even met an oenophile or knew how to spell the word, this might have been an idea that I would have appreciated. But who the heck are “The Amazing Food Wine Co.” and what wines will they promote? I mean, will they pair KJ Chard with KFC? This is just a little scary. But honestly, just a little. Cuz, when I was first drinking wine with girlfriends in a college dorm, we really didn’t know what went best with pizza, versus donuts, versus nachos. Yanno? So maybe oenophile-wannabees need this guidance.By Paul
January 24, 2007 7:16 PM | Link to this
I suspect this will attract folks who know nothing about wine. Certainly when I first started drinking wine, varietal, vintage, appelation, etc., meant nothing to me (frankly, neither did red or white). So I’ll give them a fair sized newbie market. Unfortunately, those newbies will have no idea where to go next. My suggestion would be for those same marketing folks to have a web site where you can go and find out the details about the “wine that loves pizza”, etc. (You heard it here first, folks!). That way, the newbie isn’t intimidated by the facts, but can still find out the facts if they want to move on to the next level.By mel
January 24, 2007 3:56 PM | Link to this
This is brillant marketing it will most cetainly appeal to the Crane Lake and Two Buck Chuck crowd. It takes the guess work out of what wine goes with Pizza If you drink wine that cheap who cares where it came from, only that you like it.By TJ
January 24, 2007 12:32 PM | Link to this
Hmm…okay in concept I like this idea. I agree with you that varietal, country/region of origin, year…Since most bottles have this info on them when the drinker “graduates” from these wines to sample/try other wines…they are going to be at a loss! They know the “Wine that loves Pizza” tastes good to them vs the “Wine that Tastes Good with Steak.” As a marketing/sales major in college…I think they did a half a*s job with this and a disservice to the “newbies” who would pick up this bottle. I like it due to the K.I.S(.S) priniciple: Keep It Simple…Stupid. Wine can be confusing at first. A friend (Who is a budding wine enthusiast) intially asked me about wine. He didn’t know the names of grapes, and what that could mean. Confusing. He mentioned that’s why he never got into wine before. Now, he has a girlfriend who works at Cost Plus World Market and they get a lot of decent cheaper wine (With her discount sometimes it’s under $5 a bottle!) I can see where the people behind this wine are coming from, but again what type of grapes are you using? Is it a blend?? What country, region(s) are the grapes from and year???