| Seventies and eighties was considered a golden era for wines. Next 20 years are going to be platinum, predicts Michael Mondavi, the eldest son of Robert Mondavi. Michael was the concluding keynote speaker at the recently held 4th International Wine and Heart Health Summit at Napa Valley, organized by the Desert Heart Foundation.
Former President and CEO of Robert Mondavi Corporation before it was sold to Constellation brands, he is the President and Founder of the newly formed Folio Wine Partners, a luxury wine company in Napa . A long time friend and associate of the Frescobaldi family which has been producing Ornellaia and Luce with his family in Tuscany, he has been appointed as their exclusive agent in the USA.
'If someone had told me 25 years ago that the things would shape up for Napa Valley as they have, I would have said he was smoking dope.' he said smilingly. Reflecting on the current glut, he said, 'There has been glut in the wine industry in the world for 30 years. Yet there are growers and wineries that are not able to fulfill the demand because of their high quality and limited resources.'
The reason why he feels so optimistic is because the consumer has become knowledgeable and is very interested in wine, as also food and wine. Wines today are made better, have fewer flaws, the biggest flaw being the cork taint. The image of wine has also changed. 'When I was in high school and college, 90% of wine made in the US was cheap port, sherry or wine made with Muscadelle grapes, 5% was jug and table wine, the balance being sparkling wines.' Wine plays a lot more important role on the dinner table today and that augurs well for wine.
'Of course, research carried out by you people has given the consumer permission to drink wine in moderation'. He was addressing the 120 delegates, most of whom were physicians, cardiologists, wine educators and connoisseurs who had gathered from the US, Mexico, Canada, Australia, France, UK and India from 14-17 February to discuss the results of the latest research in the field of wine and health.
Tracing the history of wine in the USA in the last 400 years he mentioned that the number of wineries had shrunk from over 300 in the late nineteenth century to 13 when prohibition was declared by the US government. When his father, Robert Mondavi started his winery in 1966, no one in the government agency knew or had the forms to fill out since no new winery had come out after prohibition. Robert Mondavi was the landmark winery that put Napa firmly on the world wine map.
A believer in terrroir, he said, 'my father believed we had the knowledge and experience to make wines that compare very well with Bordeaux and Burgundy . We believe we make the best Napa Valley wines while 'they' make the best Bordeaux wines.' Elaborating further, he said, 'If you give exactly the same ingredients to 3 chefs who are Italian, French and American, I can guarantee that each dish will be totally different and you will know who has prepared which dish depending upon his culture and experience, and enjoy all three of them. With wine there is another dimension-Terroir, and that is important.'
Elaborating further on the changes in the wine making in recent years, he said that earlier sugar, acid and pH were the three variables on which the viticulturist would rely on, with the aids from the chemical lab. If they were within the spectrum, he would pass the grapes to the winemaker. Tasting the grape for ripening is equally important now. 'Going out there and tasting the grapes, checking their texture, feel and judging whether they are ready to pick or should wait another day can be very exciting.'
He was pleased that the organic farming is coming back into vogue. In the forties and fifties, the grape farming in America was organically controlled till a study was initiated by the University of California, Fresno. Financed by fertilizers and tractor companies, it became a chemically controlled industry with heavy use of insecticides and pesticides used liberally using tractors. 'Wine is one of the easiest grown products,' he added
Referring to the wine business as time consuming he said that big corporations have no time to wait for results. 'This was also one reason we were forced to sell out our company since we were a public corporation and had a long term strategy for results, but the board of directors preferred to take a short term view.'
The golden era had also brought in a wave of companies from different fields to ride the wine boom, including Seagram's, Brown and Foreman, Pillsbury, Coke and Pepsi. 'It took Coke 6 years before they went back to making the concentrate in Georgia. Pepsi, Pillsbury and Coke of New York also raised their hands.'
A lot of consolidation is taking place in wine business. Entry of MNCs have given can be good because they can spend a lot of money on marketing and advertising. The 'under US $10' consumer wines will see a lot of globalization. For many of the brands you will have to read the back label to know if the contents are from Chile, Argentina or Australia. 'While we will be looking at the premium sector only, this globalization is going to present a lot of opportunities to buy vineyards at more reasonable prices in the next 3-5 years.
Although his father has been a great proponent of looking for an opportunity in stringent government regulations, Michael is not too happy about the current situation in the US, where all 50 states have their own laws and where 'we can sell wines in 36 states but it would be a felony if we sold in others.' He was quite hopeful that with a spate of courts cases going on, the laws will change in the next 7-10 years and he will be able to sell throughout the country as one.
Internet and communication directly with the consumer will spell a big boom for the industry, he predicted. 'I would rather communicate with my customers on email and answer any questions on wine rather than reaching them through post card and dealing through the wholesaler through whom only the retail sales are possible in the present scenario.'
There have been five generations in the US since the Second World War. The current, millennium generation is that of kids who turned 21 after 2000. It has a unique profile of wine drinkers. In this generation, and for the first time, more women are drinking wine, more people are drinking wine than beer, they are drinking better wine, they are 'sharing' with companions of the opposite sex and are more into healthy lifestyle. With their immense spending power, this presents a platinum opportunity for the food and wine industry.
But Michael had a note of warning for producers, 'Do not fool them. Once they get that feeling, they will walk away from you as they are intelligent and have many choices and alternatives.' |
