| Disorientation and Diversity | | | | By: Alder Yarrow | << back  Page 2 of 2 |
Globalization for wine means undeniably at least this simple fact: The market for any given wine, made by any producer at any size, is now the entire global wine-drinking population. Globalization, and its supporting infrastructure of global networks of distribution, marketing, and communication make it possible, though not imperative, for a producer to sell her wine to China just as easily as the nearest major metropolitan area. As a net byproduct, instead of ripping out vineyards all over the world and getting out of the farming business, many more people are not only able to make a living making increasingly better wine, but many more people are getting into the business because it is possible to do so. It is surely a complex phenomenon, and by virtue of being worldwide it must have downsides, but for wine drinkers everywhere life is getting better, not worse.
A major reason that some of the aforementioned trophy-winning wineries were able to open (or stay in business), let alone receive the sort of recognition and awards they did, was due to globalization.
In separate and unconnected anecdotes, both critic Robert Parker and long-time importer Kermit Lynch have described to me how the global market has affected some of their favorite winegrowing regions. “Thirty years ago,” said Parker, “there were maybe a dozen or so big negociants in the southern Rhone , and nearly everyone sold their grapes to them, and they churned out decent but not remarkable wines. Now, there are at least thirty or forty small producers crafting individual estate wines that are vastly superior to the wines of three decades ago.”
Lynch had pretty much the same thing to say.
Wine consumers all over the globe, regardless of whether they know why, have a larger selection of higher quality wines now than ever before in history, and this trend looks like it is not going to stop anytime in the near future, as Spain rescues and revives its old vineyards; as Argentina, Chile and South Africa reach maturity as regions; as Australia and New Zealand hit their stride as dominant players; as eastern Europe and Greece emerge from the shadows of poor economies; and as countries like India, China, Thailand, and Japan take the first baby steps towards wine production.
In the end, this fear of globalization, maddening though it is to those of us who refuse to be caught up in the reactionary politics of it, may be a good thing. After all, the “fight against globalization” is spawning movements left and right from Biodynamism, to Slow Food, to the “Natural Wine” movement, to a general increased attention on small, artisan producers everywhere. These are noble and valuable movements that have certainly improved my wine drinking life.
Thankfully the average consumers, tucked snugly as they are into a corner of their local café or curled up at home with a bottle they picked up after work, can’t hear the parade of strange creatures outside the windows that mill about shouting that the sky is falling.
Wine is better enjoyed without distractions.
About the Author:
Since January of 2004, Alder Yarrow has been publishing Vinography.Com, where he writes daily about wines, the wine world, and good restaurants around the globe. San Francisco Magazine calls Alder "the wine world's brightest cyberstar" and Vinography is is widely acknowledged to be the world's leading wine blog. The site, which Alder began as a way to collect his own personal notes about wine and food, has garnered praise from Food and Wine Magazine, Bon Appetit Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle, The LA Times, The Washington Post, FastCompany, and 7x7 Design Magazine, among others.
In both his writing, as well as his selected postings of news and miscellany from the world of wine, Alder tries to create an alternative to the traditional sources and styles of wine journalism, partially by focusing on the stories, the people, and the passion behind wine from a decidedly down-to-earth perspective. Vinography was recently honored for the second year in a row as the best blog on the Internet covering wine, beer, or spirits at the Food Blogging Awards. In addition to publishing Vinography, Alder is the resident wine columnist for the online magazine The Gilded Fork and has also written for Edible San Francisco and Epicurious.Com. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Ruth
Website URL: www.vinography.com
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