There is more news of too much wine and not enough buyers. The latest is from Italy, as reports Meininger’s:
In 2023, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan collectively spent €4.45bn on Italian wine imports, marking a 7.3% decrease from the previous year. However, the volume of wine imported only fell by 4.4%.
It was said before that the only silver lining to this year’s disasters with powdery mildew in Italy, which severely reduced the volume at harvest, would be the opportunity to deplete overstock from previous years. Now that opportunity seems to be shrinking.
Nobody has to drink wine, and nobody has to drink $25 to $40 bottles of wine, at least not frequently. I spent the decade before COVID travelling to wine regions, usually in Western Europe and particularly in Italy; from the Alps to Africa, as they say. I was consistently amazed how many small family run wineries I would visit whose offerings would start at around (once I did the conversion math to an export price) $30 a bottle retail. Could the market really sustain all this premium wine?
Well, I guess it could while the wine pie was expanding. Low interest rates for more than a decade meant people had disposable income. They bought fancy wines for their homes, fancier ones when they went frequently went out for dinner, and really treat themselves when they travelled.
And, of course before COVID, people travelled and entertained clients for business. In the time before Zoom, patrons might be less discretionary when spending other people’s money. The great wine capitals are still expense account cities, however diminished that trade may have become. But the serious Masters of the Universe, don’t screw around with wine that retails at $30, they start in the high three figures and go up. The French Grand Cru vignerons, Napa Valley Vintners and their analogues aren’t worried.
Nor worried are the bigger producers and co-operatives that can adjust to the market. If the demand for premium wine is squeezed, then more production can go into value wines. It’s the families that make $30 to $50 wines aren’t luxury enough to be recession proof, but not agile enough to pivot to lower cost production because of their costs.
It’s a surge in supply, at a time of diminished demand. Look for discount in this price range, I am seeing them on the shelf already.
NEW WRITING AT THE HUB
It’s not all bad news out there, though, especially close to home. I was very pleased to get down to the Niagara Peninsula for the first time in a long time to visit The Niagara Custom Crush Studio. More on some of the wines there to come at this space, including those of the Crush Studio’s co-founder Graham Rennie’s eponymous winery. Read about it below:
Another story I really enjoyed writing, and drew optimism from was about my visit to the George Brown College Hospitality and Tourism Campus, where I got to pretend to a student for a moment on the occasion of the visit of a famous chef:
https://thehub.ca/2024-02-09/malcolm-jolley-canadas-culinary-scene-is-going-to-be-just-fine/
Sometimes I think I am going to write about one subject, and turn out to be writing about something completely else. This $17 Refosco from the LCBO just took over the column last week. It’s a fun wine, worth trying if you don’t know it, and worth coming back to, if you do:
WINE RECOMMENDATIONS
Please enjoy these recommendations. They are free for all subscribers for now. Soon just in time wine recommendations for LCBO Vintages releases, Ontario wine releases and wines on direct offer from importing agents will be reserved for paid subscribers to Malcolm Jolley Wino Journalist. That and more. Get ahead of the curve today and support my work by being a paid subscriber.
Kir-Yianni Cuvée Villages Naoussa Xinomavro PDO 2020
Price: $17.95
Channel: LCBO Vintages
Producer: Kir-Yianni
Country: Greece
Region: Macedonia
Appellation: Naoussa Xinomavro PDO
Grapes: Xinomavro
Alcohol by Volume: 14% alcohol by volume
Sugar Content: 3 grams per litre
I am of the generation for whom fruit roll-ups were targeted, and for a while in the 1980s they feautred frequently in my packed lunches. I hadn’t thought of them for a long time until the other day when I tried the 2020 Kir-Yianni Xinomavro that’s in the latest Vintages release (#14151). There are raspberry notes in the wine, which corresponds to Xinomavro’s reputation as a Greek version of Pinot Noir, but they were slightly confected, even leathery, whic corresponds to Xinomavro’s other reputation as a Greek version of Nebbiolo.
French and Italian grape analogies aside, the best way to think about Xinomavro is to translate it. In English it means roughly ‘black acid’, and under the raspberry fruit roll-up notes in this wine is a line of black currant and refreshing, food friendly, juicy tartness. It’s both light and heavy at the same time, which is good parlour trick for $18, and slightly dangerous as its 14% abv is integrated completely by its moreish fruit. This wine is versatile will go well with any of the usual red wine pairing suspects.
https://www.lcbo.com/en/kir-yianni-cuv-ce-villages-xinomavro-2017-14151
Price: $15.95
Channel: LCBO Vintages
Producer: Claudia Quarta, Cantina San Paolo
Country: Italy
Region: Campania
Appellation: Campania IGP
Grapes: Fiano
Alcohol by Volume: 12.5% alcohol by volume
Sugar Content: 4 grams per litre
Full bodied Fiano from the South of Italy, and particularly the parts of Campania in and around Naples used to be something of a white wine lover’s secret. But there are no secrets anymore, so it’s nice to see a specimen retailing for under $20, and this entry level IGP from Cantina San Paolo is a great deal and a lot of wine for the money. Look for lemon marmalade notes and a resonant acidity. It works as an aperitivo, or wine to carry through a casual lunch, like an egg or tuna salad sandwich.