At first I thought it was coincidence, then I thought it was a ground swell and now, well, I think it’s a bondafide reality. That is- newspapers selling wine…thru wine clubs.

I don’t recall exactly when they started (and if indeed they were the earliest entry) but I remember chatting with my friend Connie in early 2007. At the time she was working with the team at the San Francisco Chronicle on their ‘new’ wine club and she was quite pumped. Facilitated by the same company, Signature Wines, that oversees the wine club for Sunset magazine, widely considered one of the most successful monthly wine clubs out there, this program was novel and she was very excited about this new move. I take it that it has done pretty well, as it’s been in place for awhile. Now, in all honesty, the idea of wine clubs is not new but via a newspaper struck me (at the time) as fresh. Continue reading »

The more they stay the same. Or so it appears… somewhat.

Always anticipated, Restaurant Wine, a formidable on-premise publication driven and written by MS/MW Ronn Wiegand, has come out with its annual ‘Top 100’ on-premise wines and brands served. While there is some news… well, it looks pretty much the same, at least as far as who is in the rankings. Ronn takes on this ample project annually and in so doing ranks wines and brands based on total 9-liter cases consumed across the entire spectrum of American restaurants licensed to serve wine, from the casual segment to fine dining restaurants and from bars and lounges to hotel banquet departments. Continue reading »

Each and every year I look forward to reading the findings of fellow MS Ronn Wiegand’s Restaurant Wine newsletter issues that unveils the “Top 100 Brands” and “Top 100 wines”. Ronn, who is also a MW (one of three in the world who carry both titles), has been coming out with this information annually for several years and it’s always a good read and information packed. Though this year’s findings have been out for awhile, I just “re – came” across it in my files and was intrigued to revisit the findings.

The information is based on exhaustive research by Ronn and is always accompanied by interesting trend numbers from the previous calendar year, in this case 2007. According to the study, the top one hundred wine brands control a 41.5% share which is down from the previous year though the market grew between 2006 and 2007. Coming from only six countries (USA, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and Chile) all were up less Australia who had supply issues due to drought. You can see the heavy hitters on the list and a summary of this survey here. Continue reading »

As we deal with the challenges of our sluggish economy, wine sales are one of the first places we see economic attrition. I have always thought that wine sales should be made part of the ‘leading economic indicators’ index as they tend to foreshadow peoples confidence vis-à-vis which wines people are drinking.

Wines are indeed an epicurean ‘canary in a coalmine’ to our economy at large. When times are good and people are flush, people seek out the so-called trophy wines of Napa valley Cabernets, Grand Cru Bordeaux, and 1esr Cru Burgundies. When times are less rosy, those same wines often reappear in the market at premium wine auctions led by the likes of Zachys, Hart Davis Hart and Sherry Lehman.

In trying to save some dough, folks may trade down to wines that give pleasure but are not as expensive. ‘Tête de Cuvée’ Champagne (the Dom Perignon, Taittinger ‘Comte de Champagne’ sorts of bottles) gives way to tasty non-vintage bottlings. We see less 2^nd and 3^rd growth and more ‘Cru Bourgeois’ Bordeaux wines find themselves being “discovered” and enjoyed. Continue reading »