Michel Rolland Speaks of "Coca-Cola Style" Wines

Cheers all,

Here is a bit of a diversion from my intended track today, but I thought I'd better present it. The following is a response I gave to two gentlemen in the French Wine Society LinkedIn group who were defending Mr. Rolland and his less-than-lofty hopes for wine and wine-drinkers, and is my thought in general on the subject of the "Coca-Cola-ization" of wines. Naturally this could have been written in response to anyone, and I have left out the gentlemen's names to protect the (Innocent?)

We shall not capitulate!

Dear Mr......

It is my opinion that, in the same way that laws in the government are (ostensibly) made for the protection and good of the citizenry, and that doctors take the Hippocratic oath to heal their patients and do what they can to improve their lives, people who know about wine, whether as amateurs or professionals, share and dispense that knowledge in order to increase the demand for good wine, and lower the demand for bad. It has nothing to do with expense, as you suggest, by the way. There are good 10-dollar wines and bad 10-dollar wines for example; many more of the latter. Given the choice, which one would you rather have?

Once you find a good wine, don't you believe that it is imperative to share that knowledge of an up-and-coming wine-making area or producer with your fellow wine drinkers? Isn't it important to educate people about the ambiguities of wine and share with them the means to embrace those ambiguities? Isn't it important to always remind people, even oneself, not to get attached to one wine, good or bad, because there are thousands of them out there, and the one you like will most likely be different next year anyway?

As you point out, though you don't recognize it, consumers DON'T KNOW what they want (even though you suggest that they do). You speak of marketing. What does marketing do? It TELLS consumers what they want. Instead of giving them marketing; give them education!

Zu unserem verehrter Herr ...... aus Merdingen: Wir mussen immer die Gelegenheit nehmen um Weinliebhabern Wein Erkenntnis beizubringen. Oder?

Prost,

The Vinucator