BACK IN THE DAYS
December has been busy, and I just realized I have not posted on my blog since last November. While searching my phone for the latest pictures of the wines I served at recent private and corporate dinners, I came across these 2 photos (from November 2015) that reminded me of how many good bottles I used to select, prepare, open, taste, and serve in my previous job.
My old boss was a drinker, a connoisseur, a collector, and an investor. I worked for him for 9 years, during which I opened some of the greatest bottles in the world. These bottles were mainly white and red Grands Crus from Bordeaux and Burgundy, with Champagne often served as an aperitif; white paired with the first and second appetizers, and followed by sweet wines for dessert.
You might think that it is pretty common for most Sommeliers to open bottles like these regularly, and I agree. Except that I wasn't opening this many bottles occasionally; I was opening them 4 or 5 times a week. My old boss used to throw parties for 10-20 people a few times a week, and not only did he know his wines, but he also liked to drink them and share them with his management team and his friends.
It was a blast for a wine enthusiast, a sommelier, and a wine buyer like me. I surely opened, tasted, and served some of the best wines in my career during these 9 years working for him.
With Chris Lee, Maître D' extraordinaire, with whom I used to work, in 2015.
These pictures are just one example among many of these wine dinners. And as you can see, the featured wines need no introduction. The labels speak for themselves.
From left to right (even you can't see the vintages, I think I remember most of them as they were mainly from the 1990s)
- Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 1993
- Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1995
- Château Leoville-Las-Cases Saint-Julien 1990
- Château Cos d'Estournel Saint-Estèphe 1990
- Château Ducru-Beaucaillou Saint-Julien 1990
- Château Margaux Margaux 1995
- Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan / Graves 1990
- Château Latour Pauillac 2000
- Château Haut-Brion Pessac-Léognan / Graves 1978 or 79
- SLOAN Rutherford Napa Valley 2000 or 2003
These were the days, 4 or 5 times a week, between 8 and 12 bottles per dinner. A sommelier's paradise!
These were pre-COVID years, meaning before 2020, when the world was still drinking and knew how and what to drink. What has happened since has left me bewildered. The world changed; views on drinking wine (and alcohol in general) shifted, and consumer habits changed.
Suddenly, drinking wine became "cringe," especially among the newest generations, Millennials and Gen Z.
Geopolitical and political uncertainties have created doubt about future political, economic, and social conditions, affecting everything from supply chains to financial markets. The addition of health concerns and financial struggles, due to inflation, cost of living, conflicts, political tensions, policy shifts, terrorism, taxes, tariffs, and trade wars around the world, have shifted people's priorities. And wine is no longer one of them.
Wine has long been considered a luxury, and this perception has been reinforced in the last two decades as fine wine has become a significant financial investment and status symbol. The market for high-end wines had experienced substantial growth, outperforming other traditional luxury assets such as art and jewelry in investment returns.
But those days are gone. Over the past 2-3 years, top-tier wines have experienced a significant price decline. The price decline for top-tier wine brands is driven primarily by a post-pandemic market correction, global economic pressures, and oversupply of certain vintages, especially in Bordeaux.
Global economic instability is undoubtedly the main factor. Ongoing economic uncertainty, inflation, and rising interest rates have reduced the spending power of many luxury buyers, prompting them to cut back on discretionary purchases. The global economic climate has shifted consumer behavior, with many opting for less expensive bottles or focusing on value-driven purchases.
The second factor is the market correction after the pandemic boom. The fine wine market experienced an unprecedented boom between 2020 and 2022, with prices surging amid low interest rates and high demand due to increased at-home consumption. The current price decrease is primarily seen as a natural correction, bringing prices back to pre-2022 levels.
The third and most significant factor hurting the wine industry is oversupply and inventory management. Several regions, particularly Bordeaux, are facing oversupply, with negociants and retailers struggling with high inventories of unsold wines spanning several vintages, partly driven by price surges in the late 2010s and early 2020s and by shifts in consumer habits. This has forced some producers and merchants to offer discounts or price new releases below comparable older vintages, devaluing existing stock and putting downward pressure on overall prices.
This brings us to the fourth factor, the shift in consumer habits and demands. A growing trend among wealthy wine buyers is to buy wine for immediate consumption rather than long-term investment, which reduces the perceived value of young, unaged wines. Buyers are increasingly interested in older, critically acclaimed "back vintages" that offer better value and are ready to drink now, rather than speculating on new releases, especially with Bordeaux, where vintages such as 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, and 2016 can still be found at lower prices than 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022.
It is also a generational shift. Younger consumers tend to drink less alcohol overall. While they may spend more per bottle (a "premiumization" trend), they are less swayed by traditional origin stories and more interested in sustainable and organic options, as well as a wider variety of global wines beyond traditional powerhouses like Bordeaux. Also, because of taste differences and the image of red wine as now old-fashioned, younger consumers have turned to white and rosé wines and beers, which are usually far less expensive than red wine.
Recent geopolitical tensions and trade wars also play a significant role in the decline in wine consumption and prices. The economic slowdown in China, once a significant growth market for top-tier wines (especially before Xi Jinping's anti-corruption law in 2013), has significantly reduced demand for European wines.
The combination of these factors has weakened the wine industry worldwide and, in turn, all the people who work directly and indirectly within it. The past 2-3 years have been tremendously challenging, with wine sales and consumption declining and prices falling as the market tried to reinvigorate itself.
But the real questions are:
- How do you sell wine in a chaotic world that is increasingly less interested in it?
- How do you sell wine when people are already struggling to make ends meet?
- How do you sell wine when people no longer enjoy it over a meal or at a gathering?
- How do you sell wine when it is no longer on their grocery list?
- How do you sell wine to younger generations that view it as part of older habits and no longer relate to it?
This list is non-exhaustive, of course, and there are so many more questions to ask. However, I will let you ponder these questions; if you have a solution, feel free to share it in the comments.
In the meantime, I'm really hoping for better days ahead. For a grandson of a winemaker, a wine enthusiast, a sommelier, and a wine buyer like me, with a 34-year career in the wine industry, the present we are living in has nothing to do with the days in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and early 2010s, when wine was thriving and the world seemed to be a better place. I'm not necessarily one of those who say it was better before, but I have to admit I would love to be back in those days!
Cheers! Santé!
Dom
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