Competitiveness of European Wine 23 October 2015 The View of a Master of Wine, by Sarah Jane Evans MW

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1 Competitiveness of European Wine 23 October 2015 The View of a Master of Wine, by Sarah Jane Evans MW It s a pleasure to help provoke a debate among so many expert colleagues. *I am drawing on my 20 years experience of writing about wine and the wine world. *My international experience, especially as a Panel Chair of the world s largest wine Awards, the Decanter Awards *And my independent overview as a Master of Wine I ll take a moment to explain the Masters of Wine we are an international professional body dedicated to Excellence, Interaction and Learning, currently working in 24 countries. And to be clear, we are not Sommeliers, they are a separate professional body. Today I should stress I m speaking in my private capacity. I do not represent the views of the Institute of Masters of Wine. In preparing this presentation I have 2 aims: 1) To act as a critical friend 2) To speak with the consumer in mind You ll find I use the word Europe regularly. But I need to make it clear that I m not talking about the European Commission, but rather about Europeans and things that are happening in Europe. I should add that I am not a specialist on bulk wine. You ll find my interest is bottled wines, included in the 1291 PDOs and

2 459 PGIs that Jean- Marie Barillère mentioned. My contention is that we have to defend and improve the quality and identity of our wines. So let s look at what Europe s doing right before looking at Europe s failings and then making some recommendations. Europe s strength lies in two words: Tradition and Diversity. In viticulture: diversity of clonal material, good understanding of terroir in many places, In winemaking: tried and tested practices, recognised by appellation rules. In marketing: specific DOs that are internationally acclaimed for quality. The acclaim explains their global dominance in auction markets particularly for French wines The joy of Europe is its glorious diversity. Tradition and diversity have been the key to Europe s success So where has where has Europe been failing in its competitiveness? This can be summed up in another two words: Tradition and Regulation. These are not EU regulations, but locally imposed practices. The effect of European tradition has been to create a narrow mindset, a lack of adventurous, a nervousness about creativity. Often this is worst in a family business I am delighted to say with Mr Torres we have here someone who understands about making a family business work. And in Italy we have some remarkable stories of families who are excellent brand builders from the Antinoris and the Frescobaldis to the Gajas.

3 But for those who cannot escape their history and tradition, then unquestioning regulation is stifling new business and innovation. Take Portugal: in the Douro Valley the complaint that the Port Wine Industry is there it s impossible for young investors to start up in the Port business. They need to have a minimum 150 thousand litres of stock financially out of reach. Ah but, regulation has a purpose, we say. This all ensures quality. Is that really the case? Look at Rioja, and the much respected category of Gran Reserva wines, some of them Spain s greatest wines. Yet the term Gran Reserva only guarantees the age of the wine. The quality can be very variable. Rioja s DO is one that chooses to limit barrel size. Originally for very good reasons. Yet with today s winemaker interest in less dominant oak, larger vats, subtler styles, clearer expression of terroir, Rioja s winemakers are held back by 225 litre rule. In Rioja, as in so many places, winemakers and viticulturists talk to me about how they get round the rules. But is that really the best way to work? To tie their hands behind their backs? If we want to keep DOs as a marketing tool and as protection to the consumer in the 21 st century, surely they need to function properly? And certainly they need to be more serious defenders of quality? This is key. A friend working in Scandinavia sent me a very strongly worded . He said: You would be shocked if you tasted some of the millions of litres of dirty, sweet, red wine sold as apassimento in bag- in- box in Nordic countries...there

4 should be serious quality control somewhere along the line to reduce the damage to Amarone s reputation. I agree. Every DO talks to me about the seriousness of their professional taste panels populated by local experts. Yet the tasters are clearly approving really poor, badly made wines being sold under well- known DOs. How do they get through the test? I can t finish this section without referring to Europe s opposition to screwcaps. Along with the wine trade in New Zeland, Australia, South Africa, I support screwcap closures, particularly on young white wines. Second, of course labelling a historic problem with wines produced in Europe. We have been slow to recognise that we need to communicate with consumers. And as a professional communicator, I m also really disappointed by the lack of factual information by wineries on the internet, let alone social media. What could Europe be doing? What would freedom look like? Consider Chile. In its recent history it went through what I might call a Bordeaux phase. Inevitably it made wines that were criticised for being safe. What s so exciting now is the new generation: for example, Miguel A Torres Jr with his sparkling Pais wine and his membership of the Vigno group of Carignan producers; soil specialist Pedro Parra discovering terroir. The downside is that many do not yet enjoy the clonal diversity of Europe. And they are only beginning to discover their terroir. They are also discovering the risk of oversupply without

5 regulation. But their wines are original. Some of them may be terrible but their adventurousness makes the wine world interesting. Argentina s Uco Valley is a case point. Everywhere people are digging calicatas (or holes) to analyse their soils. Concrete eggs and amphoras are appearing at a dramatic rate. The enthusiasm is contagious. Yet however radical the wine, the supply chain has to work. And one thing I heard loud and clear in my research was the need for Europe to improve its supply chain. As one South African exporter put it to me, I succeed internationally because my winery is based on providing a world class service, reliable and consistent quality control, quick order turn- round times, trustworthy logistics, pricing, inventory management and so on. His implication is that we Europeans just don t compete in this respect. I can t finish this section without underlining how much further ahead Third Countries are in terms of marketing. Europe has been astonishingly slow to build brands. I will return to this topic in the wine- tasting when this conference is finished. I particularly want to highlight generic marketing. For instance, South Africa remarkably links up and works with Argentina and Chile in consumer and trade shows. Yet in most of Europe, it s difficult to get members of single DOs to work together let alone regions. We Europeans are individualists, at a time when it is good to be collective. While the New World is building a customer base we are arguing between ourselves. To conclude At the moment Europe still has the advantage. As one award- winning South American producer told me with real feeling.

6 Believe me, we New World producers crave the long term protection given by a sound European Appellation. We should recognise that Europe needs to could take some very necessary steps to greater competitiveness. 1) Where DOs exist to defend quality, then let s see proof of that, rather than defending the lowest common denominator. 2) Let s encourage collective marketing and generic marketing. 3) And let s insist on Education of every type clearly at the heart of my work as a Master of Wine. With this combined approach we can give consumers worldwide a reason to buy our wines. Thank you for your attention. sarahjane@sarahjaneevans.co.uk