I just returned from a large family wedding and as always I had my eye on the wine situations I encountered.
One of my wine experiences is captured in the photo below:
As I asked in opening this post: What’s wrong with this picture?
Nothing wrong? Perhaps, but only if you want the wine industry to continue to miss the mark with younger drinkers.
Now ask yourself “what am I actually seeing here?”
Here is what I noticed in this bar filled with younger patrons:
I see the label of every bottle of spirits they sell. I can see every one of the gins, whiskeys, rums, vodkas, etc. they offer. Plus I can be visually enticed by each label.
I can also see the name on every tap they can pull to get me a beer. Big, gaudy, well identified, and colorful handles for everyone to see from anywhere at the bar and across the room. No guessing, no wondering what’s on tap.
So, now ask yourself “what am I actually NOT seeing here?”
What about their wines? Well, I can’t see sh*t about the wines they offer! Everyone can see there are bottles of wines there. Any idea what? NOPE! Any idea if it’s red, white, or rosé? NOPE! American, French, Italian, Australian? NOPE! Can I be enticed by a beautiful label? NOPE, not a one! Laid on their sides, unobtrusive, and I might say potentially looking good as wallpaper, but certainly not as a sales tool!
I watched for two nights and a Sunday brunch at this establishment and only saw three folks order wine. One couple bought glasses of Prosecco and one single individual bought a glass of white wine. Everyone else, young and old, bought either spirits or beer.
I do not see this as a price-based decision either as this was not a lower end establishment. Beer was $6 a draft and cocktails were in the $8 to $15 range. The wine was in line with prices of $10 to $16 a glass.
My first question was why do so many restaurants and bars hide their wine offerings in this way? The wine is already living out its life in a warm room environment and should be sold far before the wine goes bad due to this environment. So why not let folks see the wines? Why not let their labels advertise themselves? Why hide the wine?
They were certainly selling a lot of beer during our visit. They certainly were selling even more cocktails and drinks. So if they also want to sell wine….
WHY HIDE THE WINE?
Somewhat depressed I decided to change the subject and asked one of the millennials at our table what they thought of their recent tasting I had arranged for them out in California.
Guess what? Never mind! I better write about that conversation in a future post…