WHO CARES?

 

WHO CARES? - PAUL MCCARTNEY

Years ago I wrote a post about Geoff Merrill's wine label 'WHO CARES?).

See: HERE

I've tried to find images of this on the web and even stories about it but there is nothing there. Merrill is a bit of a maverick and has experimented a bit in the industry.

No that's Bill Bailey

Yes, that's Merrill

OK, who cares? I hear you ask. Well, frankly I do. It annoys me when important parts of history disappear because it doesn't fit the prevailing narrative of the day. The prevailing narrative was of course the rise of the Australian wine industry through the 1990s to the point where a fair bit of arrogance and hubris led it to challenge France and other major wine producing countries. Good at the time for sure but this merely attracted big investors (USA) and massive markets (China) which, initially gave the Australians a boost but in the long run have fucked their industry.

The Americans with their big (and at the time powerful) bucks bought up the big Australian producers. They then stripped them of everything to do with making great wine and dumbed them down to making supermarket plonk - a strategy that ultimately bankrupted them.

The Chinese wooed them with tantalising images of a massive market of cultured drinkers that would return massive profits even though this was a fantasy. See: the Mondavi Opus One example in  HERE. Now China, as it did to the beer industry has turned on Australia for 'political' reasons. The Australian wine industry is fucked from having put too many eggs in the one basket. It may take them a few years to recover.

*************************

OK. So why should I care?

I'm past all that. I was a marketer of primarily New Zealand wines and, at the time was professionally invested and very interested in  the product and its packaging from container to label and external packaging. The look of a product was as important (for certain markets and price points) as the quality of the wine itself. This drove my marketing and executive decisions and,  more than a decade later is still influencing decisions made by industry leaders. See below:

With thanks to asb Creative Photography.

BOTTLE DESIGN - HOW MUCH DOES IT MATTER?

The problem is though, that now I'm outside of the industry and am a (discerning) consumer I think - "Who cares?"

I want my wine to be at least of a premium standard and to be in good condition. I also want it to be in convenient packaging. I don't really give two stuffs about what shape bottle it's in except of course, heavier and more punted bottles tend to hold better quality wine. They also cost more and a lot of the cost is in the heavier and more punted bottle.

I would buy my wine packaged in half bottles (375ml) if there was a greater selection. Unfortunately, half bottles kind of disappeared many years ago as manufacturers and suppliers, due to supply chain pressures to supermarkets, discontinued them. It wasn't because of a fall-off of consumer demand.

I've written on this before: 

HERE  

AND HERE

I'm excited about the renewed prospect of being able to buy wine in cans. Well, I will be excited once producers have confidence in the improved linings in aluminium cans that will deliver wine in good condition. Currently the offerings are pretty dismal with cheap Sauvignon Blanc type wines being canned. 

Put a decent (non Marlborough) chardonnay in a can and I'll buy it.

Many years ago, in the 1970s I used to buy a French red wine - Beaujolais - in cans. The producer, I think, was Barton and Guestier (B&G). The wine wasn't great but the convenience factor was excellent. We used to pack a few of these in our packs when going tramping in the Tararua mountain range. It was a real treat, in an alpine or bush hut to cook up a kind of stew and have a couple of cans of red. The alcohol was lowish - about 11% and the cans were about the size of a small beer can - 330ml so we weren't getting trashed. Sadly these went off the market and it took many years for the idea of wine-in-a-can to come back. There were of course technical problems in developing linings that can withstand the corrosive action of wine. If the wine has direct contact with aluminium it can produce reductive compounds which are unpleasant. 

Here is some reading on the topic.

WHY WINE IN CANS IS NOT A FAD

CAN IT BE? - FINE WINE IN ALUMINIUM

The latest and best report I've seen is by Simone Madden-Grey in the Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker  magazine February 2021. In her article titled 'Unsealing the potential of aluminium can technology' she covers the problems of the past and the prospects for the future with wine in cans. Sustainability and environmental concerns are at the top of her list but manufacturers and marketers will be sitting up to take notice in the cost savings of product, packaging, shipping and recycling. 

In terms of production, the energy required to produce aluminium is considerably less than that to produce either a standard or a lightweight 750ml glass bottle. When compared with primary production, recycling aluminium produces substantially less carbon emissions and requires just 5% of the energy used for primary production, which is again lower than that used to recycle glass. Aluminium may also be recycled indefinitely as reprocessing does not damage its structure. Cans are easily stacked with a higher volume to space ratio than bottles, they are lightweight, requiring less fuel for transportation and therefore less carriage cost to the producer and they offer the consumer a variety of ways to engage with wine. 

All good that but for me, the thing that interests and excites me is the prospect of having single serve top quality wine in 200ml cans or two glass serves in 375 ml cans. This will allow greater experimentation with wine styles and, possibly as a consequence cut down on my consumption.

Unfortunately I doubt that most producers will have the balls to go this way - not in my lifetime anyway. There are so many timid winemakers or those controlled by dullard corporate executives who will prefer to stick to the status quo. Why else are there so many wine companies and brands still using cork closures instead of screw cap.