After publishing a broadside yesterday on the weakness of 
American wines priced at $12 or less, I was bracing for a backlash. I battened down the hatches last night. I donned my flame-retardant ear muffs before checking my voice mail this morning. And I put on some dark sunglasses before looking at my computer monitor….
And yet, reader reactions have uniformly concurred with my assessment. As promised, I’ll post messages from readers in this blog space, starting right now, and will refresh the space with new messages over the course of the next few days.
I should emphasize that I am no less eager to hear contrasting opinions from readers, and no less willing to reprint them. I’m especially eager to hear rebuttals from American wine producers or members of the wine trade who are willing to cross swords, whether on the issue of sheer quality, or on the economics of making good, affordable wines.
But as things stand, the broadside against America’s sub-standard performance with wines priced below $12 will continue unabated here, until defenders rise to the challenge. And here we go:
Dear Michael,
What can I say but, ‘You are dead on!’ I could not agree with you more. I also believe that the U.S., especially California which makes about 90% of American wine, is capable of outstanding quality…when it is over $25+/bottle. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to spend that much in an off-premise store for my everyday drinking wine. And God forbid I buy the same wine in a restaurant, which will easily cost me 2-3 times more. And how is it possible that European, Australian, Chilean and other producers can still sell good quality wine here for $8-10/bottle with the disadvantageous exchange rate?
I would love to buy better quality American wine, but because I can’t, I simply buy the more affordable foreign wines. I don’t know if this is a factor of lower costs or trade subsidies that foreign producers receive. But money being money and quality being quality, the true test is the price/quality ratio. I always get what I pay for when I buy a wine from Australia, Chile and other countries. I don’t get the return on a U.S. product. Furthermore and very frustrating for me is when I eat dinner in a national or regional, casual, chain account. Most of the wines are over priced at $5.99-$6.99/glass and are terrible. I could name some of the large producers (which oddly enough should have economies of scale in production and offer a good price/quality wine) but will be a gentleman and hold my tongue.
Personally, if the majority of winemakers (similar to some chefs) would stop trying to seek fame and producing 90+ point wines and simply dedicate themselves to producing a nice quality and more affordable wine, maybe the U.S. could sit at the table with the grownups. I can’t understand how their costs can be so much higher than other countries, especially when so many employ under the table illegal immigrants. Do you think it might just be the more than adequate profit margins they earn? Humm? I think it also has to do with the fact that wine in this country is still perceived as something of a luxury. Baby boomers are willing to pay more for a beverage that has perceived health benefits and the younger generation perceives it as trendy, hip and fashionable to drink a $10.00 glass wine. In other countries, it is a part of their culture. Wine is an affordable beverage that makes food most enjoyable.
The U.S. has proven that it can make wine that goes head to head with the 1st growth Bordeaux (stylistic differences aside), but I really wish it would prove that it can make good quality wine in the $8-10/bottle to compete with the other New and Old World Producers.
Peter Gower
Kalamazoo, MI
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