Breakdancing at 4am: and Other Reasons Why Millennials Aren't Buying Much Wine

It is 1999 and I’m breakdancing badly in a French Discotheque at 4am. That’s real. There is proof.

The photograph is off-center, over exposed, and out-of-focus. I’m trying - and failing - to spin on my head. It is super embarrassing and yet today it makes me chuckle whenever I think about it.

I wish I had a copy of the picture, but I don’t. The photograph when I saw it was a 4x6 print from the local drugstore. I don’t believe it was ever scanned. Probably, that’s for the best.

Yet as I consider this moment, I find a perspective about one of the greatest challenges facing the American Wine Business today.

The State of the US Wine Industry 2020 Report by Rob McMillan came out. This important report has been ringing the panic bell about the slow pace of wine consumption among Millennials.  

“The issue of greatest concern for the wine business today is the lack of participation in the premium wine category by the large millennial generation … There are growing distractions for the young consumer, such as health messaging, cannabis, energy drinks, spiked seltzers, and health-directed beverages like kombucha.”

While all of the above are true, there is another part of this story that I don’t see included the conversation.

This is the generation that grew up with all their foibles and indiscretions archived on the internet. Every bad joke that was a little off color. Every ‘slutty’ text or photo they send. Every unguarded moment that was captured on phone video by a digital bully or an ex-friend.

That lasts forever online now. 

Worse, it can go viral and destroy your life.

My awkward attempt to breakdance in 1999 was inspired by a few too many TGVs - a neon green cocktail named for France’s high speed train system. I didn’t know anyone was photographing. I was just trying to dance. Badly.

There was never the risk to me of the video ‘going viral’ and suddenly thousands - or millions - of people are watching.  Mocking me.  Forever.

That is a digital “Big Brother” that millennials have lived with for their entire lives and in adulthood it appears to be driving sober curious and neo-temperance movements. 

I love wine.  I love it for the aesthetics, the flavors, the connection to travel and food, and the friendships I’ve built around it. 

I don’t love wine because it lets me breakdance at 4am. 

Wine isn’t the same at tequila shots, six-packs of cheap beer, or event a TGV cocktail.

The wine industry has fallen down on presenting wine in its proper context of moderate food-centric consumption.

We’ve allowed the online narrative to be driven by memes of Gen Z “wine moms” and a humorous culture of excessive drinking. We’ve allowed a generation of chef’s to feel comfortable ignoring wine-at-food pairing.

At the worst, we’ve let wine become lumped in with all of alcohol and fallen victim to the paid-for-science promotes zero consumption.

If we do not do a better job of marketing wine as something that improves your life, your food, and your relationships, we run a real risk that younger generations will reject something quite wonderful.

And that would be more embarrassing than breakdancing badly in a French Discotheque.

5 Ways the Coming Wine Tariffs Might Ruin Your Life in 2020

If you follow anyone in the wine business on social media, you’ve seen a linked article about wine tariffs or a change.org petition to fight them. If you haven’t, you might want to sit down. I have some important and worrying things to tell you.

TL;DR - The Wine Tariffs are Very Bad. Sign the Petition Here!

US Trade Representative is strongly considering a 100% tariff on all European wines entering the United States. Actually it is on all kinds of European staples like cheese, olive oil, and much more, but I’m going to focus on what I know best. Wine.

You can find great articles explaining the specifics of the tariff and their role in the complicated world of global trade negotiations here, here, and here.

I’m writing this article for a different reason. I want to talk honestly about what these tariffs mean for you as a wine lover and how bleak 2020 could be if they are implemented.

European Wines Would Almost Certainly Double in Price, if You Can Find Them At ALL.

100% tariffs basically means a doubling of price on the shelf.  This article explains much of the pricing structure of the wine business, if you are interested.  The reality of the situation is that much of the wine that you enjoy today would jump one or two price tiers.

Imagine your Italian Prosecco that was $10 is now $20.  Your French Cotes-du-Rhone that was $15 is now $30.  That $18 Provence Rose is almost $40.  And that $100 Bordeaux is now $200.  

Most of these wines would quickly vanish from retail shelves and restaurant wine lists.  As European wine is the world’s elite, they would quickly find homes elsewhere in the growing economies of Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.

American Wine will be More Expensive and of Worse Quality

The European Wines listed for tariffs make up approximately 1/2 of the total wine production of the world.  The entire United States is only a sliver of that.  There is no way that American wines can make up the difference.

Because of the three-tier-system of wine distribution, these tariffs would likely also dramatically disrupt the path-to-market for most quality-focused American wineries.  This article by Tablas Creek in California, shows how this would happen.  

We can also learn from the impact that Canadian tariffs of American wines had in throttling the growth of the Canadian wine industry.  Without competitive pressure, other wineries don’t advance as quickly and the wine consumer loses.

Many of the Best People in the Wine Business Could Lose Their Jobs

When people imagine the wine business, their mind is full of bucolic landscapes and hard-working farmers, but the truth is that large corporations dominate the wine landscape with low-price low-quality wines.  Many of wine’s most passionate advocates are importers, distributors, brokers, retailers, and restaurants who built their business on the differentiation of small European wines.

“I know you could sell that generic $20 Chardonnay that every chain store and gas station sells, but wouldn’t you rather sell this beautiful white from Italy for $15 made organically by three sisters in their mid-20s.”

By doubling the prices of these wines, this business differentiator for these passionate wine lovers disappears.  Many of the smallest and coolest wine people in the business lose their jobs when their employers collapse.

• Jenny Lefcourt of Jenny and Francois “Wine Tariffs Threaten Our Very Existence”

• Vintus Wines “Its’ 2020, Not 1920!”

The Golden Age of American Restaurants Could End

The last decade has seen a major increase in the number and quality of American restaurants - especially outside of major coastal cities.  While many things contributed to that - the Food Network, Anthony Bourdain, rising cost of living in major cities - the symbiosis between small independent restaurants and small wine distributors cannot be overstated.

Small boutique wines give these restaurants a differentiator over the chain restaurants.  Quality wine lists and rise of fine casual dining gave people a strong reason to support locally owned restaurants.  Farm to table and locavore dining fit a European aesthetic that called out for boutique European wines.

Having small European wines at reasonable prices also allowed restaurants to benefit in two major ways.  

1. These independent restaurants were able to partner with small independent wine distributors who were able to offer a superior level of service when compared to the large corporate distributors.  

2. Selling unknown small European wines, that weren’t available at large retailers, made it possible for these restaurants to take slightly higher profit margins.  In a low-margin industry like restaurants, these margins were often the difference between survival and closed doors.

It Could Start a Major Economic Downturn

Historians and economists are in near unanimous agreement that the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930, which raised tariffs on almost 1000 products by nearly 50%, significantly worsened the Great Depression.

I can imagine a nightmare scenario where the EU reacts to these wine (and many other things) tariffs with a punitive slap on tech companies.  A serious tax on Amazon, Google, Facebook etc would result in a huge hit to the Stock Market.  These stocks are such an important part of so many pensions and retirements - especially as more and more Boomers enter into retirement.

It is easy to imagine the result of that being a economic death spiral that would cause pain far beyond the world of wine an hospitality.

In Conclusion,

As I write this, it is January 6, 2020 and we have about a week to act.

Please let your voice be heard.

• The Petition

• Contact the Trade Representative for the USA

• Contact Your Senator and Representative

Thank You.

Austin Beeman

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Photo by Piotr Makowski on Unsplash

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FTC Disclosure: At the time of this writing, I am the Vice President of Marketing for Cutting Edge Selections. The opinions and analysis of this article are my own. Not the official position of Cutting Edge Selections.

My 8 Most Memorable Wines of 2019

When I look back on the wines that I’ve enjoyed during the last year - dutifully memorized by the external brain pack I call an iPhone - it always makes me pause. The breadth of amazing wines that I have access to is quite stunning. I drink more amazing wines in a year than most wine drinkers do in the lifetime. It is exciting and humbling at the same time.

Today, I recap the 8 most memorable wines that I enjoyed in 2019. This isn’t a list of the very best wines, but the most memorable.

What makes a wine memorable? Surprise. Originality. Unique character. A perfect blending of wine and food pairing. And, of course, the pure, exceptional quality of the wine itself.

Grand Polaire 2018 Yoichi Kerner

Think of Japanese wine and you’ll likely think of Sake, even though that technically isn’t wine.

This is a beautiful off-dry Kerner from the ‘Snow Country’ of Hokkaido, Japan.

I came across this wine in the neighborhood of Noge in Yokohama. It is one of the very few areas of Japan that was spared destruction in World War 2. Noge gives visitors a view of prewar Japan, full of small restaurants and interesting bars.

Marco 2018 Ramato

I went with a few close friends to Porchetta Fest at Pittsburgh’s Churchview Farm.

The team from the city’s amazing Bar Marco was there and they shared their private label Ramato which had been hidden for employee use only.

A wild and delicious wine from Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA.

Mount Eden Vineyards 2010 Chardonnay

Despite living in Santa Cruz, California during 2015 and 2016, I was never able to visit one of my favorite wineries in the world - Mount Eden Vineyards until 2019.

But it wasn’t during the vineyard visit that I tasted this wine, it was the Cutting Edge Selections holiday party.

I believe Mount Eden makes America’s greatest Chardonnay and this bottle only reinforced that belief. Long and complex, moving into beautiful secondary flavors. No Chardonnay made in American ages this well.

Walsh Family Wine 2018 Plateau Pet-Nat

Walsh Family Wine is a newish winery, founded in 2014. Already there wines are showing superb quality and confidence.

Their Pet-Nat is made from single vineyard Cabernet Franc in Loudoun County, Virginia. It is fresh, acidic, and lip-smackable.

Many of the wines of Virginia are not at world-class level yet, but each time I visit, I discover more exception wineries with Walsh Family.

Cheval Blanc 2004 St. Emilion Grand Cru

Surprise! Surprise! Something the greatest wines in the world are actually worth their reputations.

This was a blind pairing selection by the Sommelier at L’Auberge Provencale in Virginia and it wowed long before we saw the label.

Lush, sexy, complex, creamy, and memorable. Everything world-class Right Bank Bordeaux should be.

Chateau Montus 1998 Madiran ‘Cuvee Prestige’

An epic 6-hour Sunday feast that we call Duck-A-Palooza finished with a last minute raid of a friend’s wine cellar.

There is no better pairing for duck than well-aged Madiran and maybe no better bottling that Montus’ Cuvee Prestige. Layers of complexity with the classic hard edges of the Tannat grape.

Guigal 2010 Cote-Rotie ‘Chateau d’Ampuis

Despite it’s current unpopularity, I love Syrah. Few make it better than Guigal in the Chateau d’Ampuis label. To make things even better, this one was singing at nearly a decade of bottle age.

Smoky bacon-fat, blueberry cream, softening tannins, and lots of complexity. A beautiful wine!

Birichino 2017 Mourvedre ‘Vignes Centenaires’

I worked with Alex Kruse, founder of Birichino, when I was at Bonny Doon Vineyards and I’ve always enjoyed the wines. It was a pleasant surprise to find that he’s now opened a Tasting Room in downtown Santa Cruz.

I tasted through the entire lineup one afternoon in September, but the 100-year-old-vine Mourvedre stood out with its pretty delicate purple fruit character.

Not surprising, since the ultra-small production historic-old-vine wines of California are some of that state’s best kept secrets.

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Note: At the time of this writing, I work for a wholesale distributor that represents some of these wines in Ohio and Kentucky. Neither my representation of these wines or lack thereof, affects this list in any way.