Day 15: Cook’s Sparkling Wine
“People are so judgey about wine. That’s why I don’t drink wine too much. I don’t know what’s good. Do you know what’s good? Not really. Then why are you judging?”
That was the turning point for me in yesterday’s conversation over Sunday brunch, when ten young women had gathered to share honest feedback on the wines they actually buy, and how they really consume them. We started with mimosas mixed with their go-to sparkling wine, which happens to be Cook’s from California, but that very much wasn’t the point. The conversation was the point. And the conversation was a reality check, because it felt like the snapshot of confusion that plagues so very many people when they wander through the wine aisle.
“It’s like you’ve got to shift into ‘learning mode’ when it comes to wine,” one person said. “I don’t want to learn. I just want to enjoy the wine.”
“I look for the wines that different wine regions hang their hat on,” another person said. “Riesling from Germany, Malbec from Argentina, Chardonnay from California, etc.”
“I bring out the better bottle first, when people are paying closer attention,” someone else said. “If it’s going to be a long night, and everyone’s drinking, then the ‘good wine’ matters less, later on.”
At least four of the ten people in the group said they mix other things into their wine, such as carbonated water, fruit juice, Diet Coke, and Sprite.
And etc.
I was grateful for their feedback, and for the relaxed and frank mini-focus group discussion that developed. There were plenty of takeaways that are relevant to this Blue Collar Wine Project, but the point about “judgey wine people” actually discouraging potential wine drinkers particularly grabbed my attention, especially since this was a bullseye target demographic for current and future wine consumption.
How could wine people communicate with you better, I asked, so that it doesn’t feel judgey?
Their feedback boils down to three points:
- Wine has a lot to learn from beer. Beer is approachable. Anyone can talk about beer and feel comfortable.
- Communicate on the appropriate platforms in the appropriate way. For text messages, that means sending images and information but not too often (that is, not more than twice a month). I was surprised to hear that, on Instagram, this group’s follows included a significant portion of brands rather than only individuals or people they personally know. “You voluntarily follow brands?” I asked to confirm. Yes, they said, because they learn a lot that way.
- Non-network documentaries, on platforms like Netflix and Hulu and even podcasts, are important but less-understood vehicles.
By the end of the conversation — and almost at the end of the mimosas — I’m the one who had learned a lot, about Blue Collar Wine and especially about the business of communicating about it in a non “judgey” way.
Quick Background Note: The Blue Collar Wine Guide is a 30-day, 30-wine experiment that looks at some of the world’s most popular, consumer-friendly wines. The idea is to take off my wine-writer shoes and stand instead in the shoes of Jane-and-Joe-in-front-of-a-wall-of-wine. Thank you for reading today’s post!
