Good Grape Wine Company

March 8 2008

Riding Shotgun in the Passing Plan

On the heels of the February and March editions of Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW), an important point of interest has emerged that is a stunning dichotomy for wine lovers online, and it will not be resolved any time soon.

First, the February edition of WBW, hosted by Andrew from Spittoon, asked participants to write their tasting note in just seven words.  This was a hyper approach to a “sniff-swirl-spit-jot” routine that challenged most to act as their own harshest editor, losing the adverbs and refining the tasting note to its essence—a sort of “keep it simple for stupid” in our fast-paced, ‘cut to the quick,’ ‘net it out’ kind of lives.

Then, just a few short weeks later, Joel from Wine Life Today implored us to discuss our “comfort wines” – the wines that acted as an oasis in a sea of craziness, the wine that that we love to relax to.

It is an interesting contrast in thematic flavors, to be sure.

I’m reminded that a book on the market, Microtrends by Mark J. Penn, posits that decrease in French wine consumption, that affords the U.S. to increase its market size on the world stage, is partly based on our export of an “on-the-go” culture—in stark contrast to the convivial, take it as it comes approach to food and wine that has been the French trademark.  Simply, according to this book, the French are drinking less wine because they are eating more as a function of need and less as a promise of relaxing repast.

A recent article in the USA Today (found here) says in part:

Our fast society is only getting faster, putting inordinate demands on our time and prompting the people and companies that service our lives to come up with ways to help us reclaim some of it.

The article goes on to say, in a quote from author Timothy Ferriss:

Acceleration isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is when applied to all things … I find that for most people, a sped-up life leads to feelings of guilt and anxiety instead of productivity and relaxation. Unending acceleration isn’t scalable, whether as a lifestyle or a business model.”

With the convergence of technology and the wine industry occurring at a very accelerated rate, what is it folks? 

Is technology a tool to deliver our “oasis?” Are Twitter tasting notes a “cut-to-the-chase” tool for cutting the fat and getting to the point?

Or, is technology a tool that will further threaten and commoditize; isolate the relaxing notion of a good bottle of wine shared with good friends, fostering memories of time, place and circumstance?

Your comments welcomed …

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