ROBERT PARKER: “THE SECTOR IS LIKE A DINOSAUR WHE IT COMES TO THE INTERNET, THE KEY IS IN THE INTERACTION WITH CLIENTS”

November 17, 2009

The economic crisis, globalization, education, communication and the interaction of consumers in the market are the main challenges of the future for the wine industry.

Logroño, Spain, 14th November 2009 – The fundamental goal of WineFuture – Rioja ’09 was to create a forum that looked at and evaluated the challenges that are facing the global world wine industry. For that reason, with the participation of 38 speakers from across the wine industry, this event has created a framework on which to expose the challenges facing a sector that has been badly affected by the global financial crisis. The conclusions of WineFuture show the main challenges as seen by the industry as the problems of consumption and sales caused by the global recesion, globalisation of the markets, education as a means to attract new consumers, communication and interactoin with the consumer.

it is this last point that Rober Parker, founder of The Wine Advocate, referred to during the discussion that analised the current and future situation of wine: “The economy is, on the one hand, a challenge that we must overcome” but it is also necessary to ovcercome the fact that “the industry is like a dinosar when it comes to the internet. The key here is in the interaction with clients. Each winery needs an interactive website to promote their product and themselves. An example would be someone walking through the streets of Tokyo and fancies a ‘Rioja’. Where can I find one? This is the level of information that needs to be obtained”.

To overcome the economic crisis is another of the challenges, according to the experts who have tried to predict the future of the wine industry. Jorge Ordóñez, President of Orowines, added that: “The globalisation of the industry, industrialisation, agriculture and changing of the vineyards must all also be taken into account”. On the other hand, Justin Howard, Master of Wine, made it clear that “in the short term we must look at profit margins, and in the long run at sustainability as we must know and understand what we can do with the Earth and its natural resources because we are using them up”.

As for the future of wine, the experts gathered for the last talk of WineFuture – Rioja ’09 were convinced that the focus will be on topics such as the environment, new technoloigies, and emerging markets. “The trend is that emerging markets such as Asia and the USA are going towards continued growth, and from then, the rest of the markets will be able to start to recover”, assured Mel Dick, of Southern Wines and Spirits. Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, also spoke of her worry over “the loss of knowledge and understanding of wine making techniques” while for Robert Parker on the topic of alcohol consumption: “the tendency for consumption to be dominated by markets such as France or Spain are on the downturn thanks to the restrictive legislation of these governments”.

In the last installment of talks at WineFuture – Rioja ’09, the topics of blogs and internet sites were covered. For Jancis Robinso, “people use blogs indiscriminately but this is not the only method, we also need to know how to create them. In my opinion, I believe that they are a healthy practice, and a very important and extensive form of communication, especially in the Anglo-Saxon part of the world. It is a way manifesting this new enthusiasm for wine”. In contrast to Robinson’s opinion, Parker believes that “There are some truly wonderful blogs, but as in all aspects there are some good and some bad. There is so much information in wine blogs that is senseationalised. Honestly, I think that this sensationalised and erroneous information will remain overlooked and the best blogs will survive”. Don St. Pierre, President of ASC Fine Wines, also argued that “new technologies like blogs, make wine more accesible to markets like Asia, and help generate enthusiasm and interest there”.

Alongside these themes, the panel of wine experts gave a special mention to the presence of wine in restaurants. Jorge Ordóñez explained that “In Spain and America, wine has been the best way of making money in a restaurant. And we can’t stop selling them there because it would cause many to close down. What is for certain, is that there are some restaurants that sell the wine at 300% the cost of the same bottle in a shop. I don’t consider it to be a fair business that buys 1000 bottles at low cost to make an indiscrimainate amount of money from them”. Parker responded, continuing along these lines: “I wouldn’t like to be told what I have to do or charge in my restaurant. But I am not going to deny that if prices in restaurants are prohibitive, then something is going to have to done about it. In California, for example, it is thought that the price of a bottle of wine is 100% of its cost, if they charge me 300% of what it costs in a restaurant, it is as if they mugged me in the street”.

When the debate turned to the topic of education, the panelists were questioned about their own interpretation of wine eductaion. The presentation served to give a glimpse at a real possibility of introdcuing the wine industry into other forms of education, like that, for example, of the university community. In this way, Jancis Robinson set out her next example: “I always say that if a consumer asks me <>, I tell them <>. It is like going to a library and asking I believe that education is something that varies from person to person, and it can go so much further than what a book can tell you”.

Wine education and its relationship with the new generation of consumers go hand in hand in the last presentation. The point was debated that the youth of Spain are drinking more and more wine mixed with sugary soft drinks to create products such as ‘Tinto de Verano’ or ‘Calimocho’. “ I have no problem with this style of consumption. I remember when I was young drinking lots of rosé wine and nothing came of it. It is a starting point, so if the interest is there, it can be beneficial and taken further. Equally, one day these young people will discover and start a love affair with wine” claimed Parker. Justin Howard expressed another point of view: “It is clear that many young poeple feel the need to add sugar to their wine because they don’t like the taste of it alone. It must also be taken into account that the label and its design also influences the young poeple’s impressions and attraction to a wine. If the group that drinks this style increases, I don’t know where we will end up... Now we should help those young people starting with sweet wines and then channel them towards other varieties”.

This final concluding pannel was composed of Mel Dick, Jorge Ordóñez, Robert Parker, Christopher Cannan, Jancis Robinson, Don St. Pierre, Paul Pontellier and Justin Howard.

In a final closing speech of WineFuture – Rioja ’09, Kevin Zraly, technical director of the event, emphasized the major milestone achieved by WineFuture “ the ability to bring together wine experts in the same place in order to discuss key points and get to be able to discuss these and recieve other ideas from other people, because we have all learnt things durning WineFuture”. It is also hoped that in the next Winefuture event, there will be a greater link between wine and gastronomy.