Is Country of Origin an Outdated Way of Selling Wine?
Posted on Mon 21st Mar 2016 at 11:35
It's a system that's relied on by millions of consumers, but now a leading retailer has said we need to stop merchandising wine by country of origin.Speaking to the Drinks Business, Andrew Bewes, managing director of Hallgarten Druitt, said that:“We are seeing seismic change [in the on-trade] from the situation twenty years ago and this is not having to list wine region by region and grape by grape but moving towards stylistic indicators. That may mean a reduction in choice at a grocery level – as wine lists in res
Speaking to the Drinks Business, Andrew Bewes, managing director of Hallgarten Druitt, said that: “We are seeing seismic change [in the on-trade] from the situation twenty years ago and this is not having to list wine region by region and grape by grape but moving towards stylistic indicators. That may mean a reduction in choice at a grocery level – as wine lists in restaurants are coming down in terms of size – but it is easier for consumers and also for the front of house team, whether that is in a restaurant or at retail, as you can use various cues stylistically in a graduated wine list. There is a logic to the weights and styles of the wines,” he said.
“There is an inexorable move to retailing wine by style – and one of the great advantages of online retailing is that you can change the way the consumer looks at your range at the click of a button – it can be by country, grape, colour or style very easily.” His argument is certainly interesting, and a switch to this retail method would certainly benefit wines from the less well known countries such as Macedonia. However, we can't help but think that this change will come slowly if at all. We all know consumers who have learned to navigate their way around the world of wine by using geography as the key, and it's going to take a long time to prise them away from this safety net - and indeed their emotional attachment to particular countries and wine regions.