Once more, how consumers buy wine

Dear Wine Business:

I know we have our differences, but we do want the same thing — to get more people to drink wine. Hence another of my letters, which I send you periodically to tell you what happens when I talk to consumers about wine. This time, how they buy wine, and it doesn’t have much to do with scores or premiumized wine.

Marlowe, one of the two official dogs of the Wine Curmudgeon, needed a haircut, so I took him to a local place, Kinder Kritter. I know the owner a little, but we’ve never talked about wine. This time, though, she was curious about my license plate, 10 WINE. I told her, and she asked me for some recommendations. What do you drink now? I asked.

I know you don’t want to believe this, Wine Business, but she drinks $10 Bogle cabernet sauvignon, and $12 J. Lohr cabernet when she wants to splurge. So cheap, Big Wine grocery store brands that are easy to find and aren’t sold on the basis of reviews, winespeak, or cute labels. In other words, none of the stuff she is supposed to drink and which makes her a fairly typical wine drinker.

Yes, small sample size, but it’s not like I haven’t heard it before. She likes red wine that is easy to drink, but has a little more going on than just that. I recommended the McManis cabernet and the Rene Barbier Spanish red blend. The former was similar to what she was already drinking, and the latter was like it in some ways, but also different enough so that she could expand her horizons. Because isn’t that what every wine drinker should do?

The owner was also very excited when I told her the Barbier was only $6. So much for premiumization, huh?

I’ll let you know what she thinks of my recommendations. And thanks again for your patience in reading this.

Your pal,
The Wine Curmudgeon

More about consumer wine buying habits:
• How people really buy wine
• Another study agrees: We buy wine on price
• What drives wine drinkers? Price, of course