Less than half of UK wine drinkers think region is important when they buy wine, a new report says.
In the Wine and Spirit Trade Association's latest Consumer Intelligence survey, 48% of respondents said that region or origin is important, while 59% said country is important when making the buying decision.
This will come as no surprise to major producers such as Lindeman's, Blossom Hill and Echo Falls. All are now producing wine in a number of countries under the same brand.
Clare Griffiths, VP European Consumer Marketing for Constellation Europe said country of origin and regionality were low on the list for Echo Falls consumers.
'What is important to these consumers is the right taste profile, a recognisable grape variety and an easy drinking wine at the right price,' she added
The survey also shows promotions are more important than ever. 77% of respondents said discounts like three for £10, or money off deals were very important to their buying decision. This is compared to 61% three years ago.
The report also showed Pinot Grigio has overtaken Sauvignon Blanc as the UK's second most popular white grape variety.
Pinot Grigio is experiencing a surge in popularity with 54% of the UK's regular wine drinkers consuming it in the past six months. While Chardonnay maintains its leadership of the UK white wine market, it has lost fans in the past three years.
Sergio de Luca, director of buying for Italian specialist Enotria, told decanter.com, 'The strength of Pinot Grigio sales, despite euro exchange rate problems and duty increases, demonstrates the flexibility of the grape variety.
'It shows that the neutrality of this wine makes it easier for consumers to choose it'.
Wine Intelligence, for the WSTA, surveyed 3,059 regular UK wine drinkers between March and April 2009.
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3059 consumers... ok....
However, one could very strongly argue that the reason people are buying Lindemans, Blossom Hill etc. from different countries is because the brands are more "important" than the country from which they come, they have achieved awareness over time and are more memorable themselves, than the country from which they come...People think Kumala is from South America and Blossom Hill is from Australia - says it all....Hence Blossom Hill from Chile/SAfrica will probably work.
Perhaps the data needs to be extrapolated in a different manner?
Catherine Monahan, London
Wow. This is truly pathetic. Pinot Grigio's "neutrality" makes it an easy choice? 'What is important to these consumers is the right taste profile, a recognisable grape variety and an easy drinking wine at the right price.' ?
This is seriously depressing. Depressing, but true. This is a frightening report and supports my theory that brands like Lindemans and Blossom Hill, and companies like Constellation are evil and remain the scourge of the wine industry. While people with consciences attempt to help people drink better wine and actually give a damn about how and by whom it's made, these Suits are ruining the party and drowning people in a sea of plonk. If I were Clare Griffiths, I would have a very hard time sleeping at night. These products are falsified and fabricated and playing on an image of wine that was created by the "real thing." Consumers are being duped and ripped off. These tycoons are simply playing on their ignorance. This truly makes me sick.
Dave Marra, Ireland
But do drinkers know that wine producing countries have different laws? For instance, when we read of scandals because of illegal winemaking in some country, how many readers understand that laws which are broken there are more stringent than legislation elsewhere? And how many understand that something which is allowed in some country is considered a crime in another one (for instance, sugar adding)? And that scandals being publicised actually means that legal controls are working? I don't want to look chauvinistic, but if Italy has the most restricting wine legislation in the world, this should be important when considering the region of a wine we are drinking.
Guido Scialpi, Italy
You really do have to feel sorry for the consumer sometimes. It
doesn't surprise me at all that less than half of consumers do not
value region or origin when choosing a bottle for the evening. For
those of us that work in the industry generally have a different view
of wine than your average consumer, and our expertise often clouds the
simple fact that to most wine is a mysterious and complex subject.
And who can blame them, what with vintages, more grape varieties than
you can shake a screw cap at, bottles with and without deep punts,
chateaus, corked bottles, legs, oaked / unoaked, low alcohol, dry,
medium, sweet... so much to consider when buying a bottle. And when
faced with the combination of crowded shelves crazed shoppers and
deciphering boring labels large brands will always win the battle.
They've got the numbers, budgets to be visible to the consumer and the
sense to adapt and offer a quick, easy solution.
They are ultimately a safe bet for any befuddled consumer.
It would be wonderful to see more wine companies, producers and brands
working harder to transfer the passion, excitement and understanding
they have for the wine and it's roots to the consumer without getting
bogged down in the detail.
Region and Origin are so very important, but is enough being done to
champion them?
James Fleming
Whilst surveys of this type are useful snapshots, they cannot and do not capture anything like the full picture. Here are just some additional points which need to be considered when evaluating such survey results:
1 More people in the UK drink wine than ever before. The sub-set of wine drinkers who are knowledgeable and interested in provenance and authenticity is still there - probably larger than ever now - but is a relatively smaller section of the whole group. They are still buying wine based on their particular Decision Tree but have several sources from which to choose. This makes them more promiscuous in retail terms and difficult to pin down generally.
2 The increased number of regular wine drinkers means that there are very, very many people who are completely new to wine or who have gradually changed their drinking habits from beer, cider, alcopops and maybe spirits. As newer wine drinkers, they have a relatively mainstream attitude to buying wine.
3 The way wine is retailed in the UK has massively changed in the past 20 years. In particular, supermarkets now dominate the sector. Therefore, many of the newer wine drinkers - a very large sub-set - will have a very different way of selecting wine when compared to the more knowledgeable group.
4 Those being asked these questions are more likely to be in this large "relatively newer wine drinkers" sub-set. They are - by definition - more likely to reflect the following logic:
- mostly, they buy their wine from the major supermarkets
- supermarkets have massively increased the promotion volume of wine and the depth of discounts they offer
- therefore the average supermarket-customer buys on promotion (why wouldn't you?)
- the decision tree for their purchase has been reduced to Colour/Price/Promotion/Style and occasionally Country and Brand
5 In short the average consumer has abrogated the responsibility for many decisions to the supermarket buyer - and the buyer now selects promotions on the basis of financial return, first and foremost. Region, in particular, becomes a side-show unless it is one of the KVI regions - eg Chateauneuf, Chablis, Sancerre, Champagne - which occasionally tick the boxes for many of the consumer sub-sets, particularly at certain times of year.
Whilst all this may be depressing to some, in many respects it is just a phase. The good news is that so many people do now drink wine. Over time a proportion of the "newer wine drinker" sub-set can be tempted into finding out more. They will - one day - start to make their own decisions so long as the opportunity is there and some form of education is available in the meantime.
So, rather than moan that provenance is "no longer important" and rail at supermarkets and the "great branded wine devils" for what many regard as vinous dumbing down, we might reflect that they have been seducing the Coke drinkers, cider drinkers, alcopop drinkers and first-time drinkers into the arena. In the case of some of the biggest wine brands, this is much in the same way that Liebfraumilch did many years ago on a much smaller scale. Yes, they have brought a number of established, middle-range drinkers down to their level - that is the price of success, perhaps - but it shouldn't dissuade others from offering good wine to the market whether under a producer/domaine label or a brand from a variety of regions and countries. The consumers are out there and are used to buying far better wine now, on average, than was the case two decades ago.
I have my own views on many of the associated subjects raised above, but they are not for this forum. Suffice to say, surveys have their uses but often ignore the key underlying reasons behind the apparent conclusions.
David Gill, Leeds
I believe there are two classes of people-those who eat to live and those who live to eat. It is good to know that UK still has half the people who love to eat- well. That the wine world is increasingly being controlled by the brands, owned and promoted by big corporations rather than wineries is a sad reality. I wonder if it is because of the lack of wine education or the usual brain-washing by the brands that spend more on marketing than the product quality that 52% people in UK are missing the true excitement of wines. What a region like Bordeaux, Barolo or Rioja can offer cannot be replicated by other regions- even though substitutes are increasingly available. Of course, it is not surprising that people are looking more at the discounts and offers-in these days of recession. And I think a company is playing a fraud on the unsuspecting customer when it is bottling wines from another country for its popular labels-be it Australia, US or even China and India. I only hope they mention it clearly on the labels the origin of wine, at least.
Subhash Arora, President, Indian Wine Academy
Why are we surprised with these findings? Lawyers love the intricacies of the law, doctors focus on esoteric parts of the human body. Engineers construct and tear apart magnificent bridges in their minds. But litigants do not love the law, doctor's patients don't care to learn the name of that deep muscle which is causing the sciatic pain and drivers merely drive back and forth over bridges. Very few end-users or consumers are concerned with the intricacies of fundamental matters in their lives let alone arcane information about grapes, regions and aroma wheels.
It's human nature. Many of us have our intellectual and gustatory passions but they are shared only with small groups of like-minded friends and colleagues (or Decanter readers). We, the amateurs, are not going to change that and that's okay with me. I don't want to see an increased demand for a Bordeaux blend from Hawke's Bay or a lovely Refosco. We all know what happened when the Chinese discovered Bordeaux.
By all means share your knowledge and passion for the wonderful varieties and expressions of vitis vinifera - but don't get your knickers in a knot when your sister-in-law doesn't care if her Sauvignon Blanc comes from Marlborough or Sancerre.
Karen Jordan, Calgary, Canada
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