Advice you’re more likely to get from friends and family than the experts
photo from www.startin-sport.com
I’ve been toying with the idea as men get older their taste buds develop a “roving tongue,” leaning more towards fuller flavors and possibly higher alcohol in wine. Far from scientific, perhaps there is a need for more ramped up, flashier, more voluptuous wines to hold an aging man’s interest.
Then I sat with Peter Mondavi Sr., the patriarch of the famous family in Napa Valley, over a very old bottle of his wine. He kept talking about the alcohol. “Look at the label, 12%.” He repeated himself, not as an older person who just forgot what they said, but to emphasize how lower alcohol wines can age and still be bright and lively and relevant.
Now a report comes from the Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI, or German Wine Institute), who reports that the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) are finding wine drinkers switching to lower alcohol wines. On the DWI site they tell of consumers who are concerned that the lower alcohol wines will lack the flavor they have become fond of. Prowein has also commissioned Wine Intelligence, surveying consumers in the US, China, Germany and the UK.
Research suggests educating people to the reality that lower alcohol wines can be fulfilling. My evening with Mr. Mondavi reinforces that idea.
Now if we just get the aging population of men in America to realize those high res trophy wines they are chasing after might not be there in the long run for all their wants and needs.
Prowein sponsored Wine Intelligence report HERE
German Wine Institute site referencing the WSTA report HERE
Tags: Deutsches Weininstitut, DWI, German wine Institute, lower alcohol wines, Napa Valley, Napa Valley Vintners, Peter Mondavi Sr., WIne and Spirit Trade Association, WSTA
The tongue may stray but the liver is kept in place by ligaments…