There Are Too Many Wine Brands In the World

I want to start off by saying that I am not a communist. I went to business school (Go Tarheels!) and I got some serious lessons in capitalism. I bought in hook line and sinker. But lately I've been thinking a lot about wine and I think I may be turning a bit red in my views. Why? I've come to the conclusion that there is just too much choice in the wine category and that maybe it should be voluntarily restricted by wineries (monkeying with market dynamics? gasp!).

I mean, I'm woman enough to say that even with knowing a thing or two about wine, I still enter wine stores and sometimes feel overwhelmed by the selection. I can't imagine how intimidating it is for someone just getting into the stuff! And it's only getting worse. Over the last decade the number of wines has proliferated and the choices of what to buy have become more and more difficult.

I'm a marketer by training so in my spare time I think about products, consumers, categories and dorky issues like that. In my contemplations, I've come to the conclusion that wine is the only category of stuff we buy (besides apparel) that has so many brand choices. I guess it's ok that I'll never be able to experience it all, but my question is: what is the true advantage of too much choice? I would argue that it only leads to more confusion and intimidation about wine. I'll take it a step further: in my opinion, the wine producers thoughtlessly churn out brands and in doing so, make wine too complicated for the rest of us.

I understand why they do this, as wrong as it is. I worked for a large winery in California for a number of years, so I've got some inside dirt.

The first thing -- in part, it's driven by us, the consumers. We like wine, we buy wine, so wineries create more brands of wine hoping we will buy them -- supply and demand. The wineries look at what we are buying from a data standpoint (yes, they see what scans at the grocery stores...a little Big Brothery, no?) and they try to make more brands similar to those we already like. I think of it like a Moroccan market, where each person is peddling their meat skewer. The more meat skewers we all buy, the more vendors there are the next day peddling their special brand of meat. The problem is, if there are 75 meat vendors, there are probably only 20 or 30 that have appreciable differences in roast, spice, and cooking technique between them. So it is with wine, in my opinion.

Second, from a business perspective, wineries also have to make a buck. So larger wineries create multiple brands as "outlets" for extra wine hoping we'll buy it. That way they can make money from both their good and less good grapes. The end result is a flood of wine that we're uncertain about, but that we buy because it's on display or because it looks like something we know or because some dude gave it a good score.

So what is the solution to this over-abundance in wine? I think in an ideal world, we would have fewer wine brands with better quality in each and real differences between them. Wineries would focus on what they did best, and make differentiated products that normal people would buy because the wines are unique. Instead of hundreds of California Chardonnays, maybe we would have a choice among a more manageable number that we could truly spend time with and evaluate. In this ideal world, as consumers, we could really get to know grapes and wines and regions, and learn what we prefer. There would still be nuance and style, but the dreck may be eliminated and the real differences in styles could shine. Focus, rather than mass numbers of brands, would improve quality, reduce our confusion in the store, and make wine a much more accessible product.

Sadly, I know that my ideal won't happen because the industry is not structured this way, but it's food for thought.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment and let's discuss it!