Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/23459
The Eyes of Bordeaux The American Wine Society has more than 4,000 members, who spend upwards of $30 million a year on wine. That’s why the likes of Planet Bordeaux sponsored the organization’s 2010 con- ference and has strongly targeted this group to promote the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur AOCs, which rep- resent 55 percent of all the Bordeaux wines consumed in the world. “These people are our ambassadors,” says Xavier Milhade, owner of Château Recougne and Château Montcabrier. “They understand our price and quality.” Jana Kravitz of Planet Bordeaux says the American Wine Society is a strategic partner in the effort to reacquaint American consumers with Bordeaux. “The value for the money is unbeatable, but Bordeaux remains complicated and scary,” Kravitz says. “[American consumers] think they can only have it if it’s expensive. We are bringing the fact that Bordeaux is valuable and affordable. The American Wine Society is a great audience of consumers; it is made for consumers and is very important to our strategy.” Times Have Changed One reason the American Wine Society is so appealing to winemak- ers is the ongoing distribution and retail consolidation, says Jim Bernau of Willamette Valley Vineyards, who spoke at the 2010 conference. “It’s getting harder to reach consumers through normal channels because of consolidation. There used to be distributors serving as evangelists, but those days are gone now,” Bernau says. “Small retailers are being crowded out by large retailers, where the person making buying decisions may live in a different state.” For these reasons, Bernau believes, reaching consumers through the American Wine Society has never been more valuable. In Massachusetts several years ago, he reached out to the Chesapeake Chapter of the AWS before a tasting. One guy told his friends, who told his friends, who told his friends, etc. The whole chapter—and then some—showed up to the tasting. Now, Willamette Valley Vineyards is one of the bestselling wines in the area. “Consumers are making more of a personal identification with producers Jana Kravitz of Planet Bordeaux, the organization that sponsored the 2010 conference. and are working very hard to minimize the economic impact of middlemen,” he says. And that’s where the American Wine Society has made perhaps the biggest impact. It is introducing the likes of Willamette Valley Vineyards, Mercer, Bordeaux wines and many others to savvy wine consumers. Members travel the world in packs, hitting every vineyard possible, bringing home more cases than most retailers receive from the producers. It’s this enthusiasm, this lightening in the bottle that Charles Krug Winery is hoping to capture in 2011. Parker says the famous Napa Valley producer has agreed to participate in the conference. “Things are definitely looking up for us,” Parker says. And, apparently, for the American Wine Society sponsors. january–february 201 1 / the tasting panel / 65