Michael Fridjhon: The idea of grape variety as brand

By , 16 October 2024

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Not all insights are original or earth-shattering, but this doesn’t mean that they are without value. For example, it’s widely recognised that cultivar serves the same purpose as brand for many wine-drinkers. People who order a sauvignon blanc or a chardonnay without specifying a preferred producer are expressing a kind of brand choice based on the attributes – or at least their perception of the attributes – of the variety. They either don’t know – or care to know – the names of the cellars which produce their bottle of choice. They are happy simply to have a glass of whatever sauvignon or chardonnay is on offer.

Once you accept that for many everyday wine drinkers cultivar is king, you have to ask yourself why some varieties always appear to be in demand, while others simply tick along. This in turn poses a further consideration – is the status of cultivars in some way set in stone and if so, what would have to be done to change position on the hierarchy.

Some of this is easily answered: in the early 1980s chardonnay was comfortably the most prestigious variety in South Africa – mainly on account of its rarity. Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay was sold on allocation for twice the price of Chateau Mouton Rothschild – a situation which prevailed until supplies increased (and the ABC – Anything But Chardonnay – campaign became entrenched in the 1990s). With chardonnay’s fortunes waning sauvignon blanc began its ascendancy.

Rarity may affect the status of the different varieties – but only for as long as demand massively outstrips supply (as in the case chardonnay forty years ago). Once there is roughly enough volume in the market it’s the stature of the cultivar’s “brand” status as well as it perceived attributes that drive image and demand.

Chardonnay dipped when consumers identified it with over-oaked (and therefore possibly over-oxidised) white wines. Consumers seeking freshness gravitated immediately to the variety which delivers tangy crispness in bucket loads. Ask sauvignon drinkers what they like about their chosen grape and words like “freshness” and “zestiness” are bound to dominate the discourse.

Descriptors like these are not always true – or even vaguely appropriate. I once ran a couple of workshops for winemakers when merlot was still a relative newcomer to the Cape. Everyone – producers and wine marketers – used descriptors like “plush” and “creamy” for the wines in the line-up – whether or not the wines were even merlot. It was clear they were tasting the reputation of the cultivar and not the wine itself.

So now we get to the key issues which define those cultivar-brands which are doing well, and those which are battling to get traction. Sauvignon is the big player on the white wine scene. Chardonnay is solid despite the ABC residue which still drives (mainly quite ignorant) consumers into the arms of sometimes quite aggressively herbal sauvignon blancs. Chenin has experienced a massive surge in popularity over the past twenty five years. Efforts to reward quality and shake off its old image as the workhorse grape of the Cape have paid handsome dividends. Its success is expressed both in generally higher pricing and in the premium paid for the old vine bottlings.

When it comes to reds however, things are not so clear. Merlot is the sauvignon blanc of the red wine trade: it enjoys a large following at a mid-market price point where consumers imagine (rather than taste) the soft creamy tannins. Cabernet’s long held position as the “king of red grapes” continues unassailed. Producers know they can charge more for a visibly wooded cab than for most reds.

Pinot noir, on a much smaller scale, enjoys great prestige. Its brand positioning was perfectly handled by Tim Hamilton Russell when it was launched into the South African market in the last decades of the 20th century. It still achieves an average price (in bottle – rather than as bulk fruit for the fizz industry) that bears no resemblance to its potential tasting pleasure. Look at what well-branded slightly weedy Cape pinots sell for and ask yourself to what extent brand image – together with apparent shortage – drives the pricing.

Producers will tell you shiraz is a hard sell, despite there being more accessible (and often less overtly green) examples than merlot. Clearly it has a brand image problem. Cinsaut has staged a bit of a comeback amongst the geeky crew, but its (in my view) overly optimistic pricing is starting to look increasingly soggy as more and more stock begins to flood the market. The past five years have been a textbook case of shortage driving brand image, rather than inherent quality or intrinsic desirability..

Pinotage on the other hand continues to battle to achieve lift-off. It hasn’t shaken itself free of its baggage nor has it delivered a consistent message about what it offers: those who preach its pleasures find themselves on the back-foot because it doesn’t own its brand message space (read more here). It’s in the same no-mans-land that leaves shiraz a little directionless: there’s no agreement about what you can expect from a glass of it. Punters prefer the illusion of certainty to the certainty of doubt.

  • Michael Fridjhon has over thirty-five years’ experience in the liquor industry. He is the founder of Winewizard.co.za and holds various positions including Visiting Professor of Wine Business at the University of Cape Town; founder and director of WineX – the largest consumer wine show in the Southern Hemisphere and chairman of The Trophy Wine Show.

 

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    Michael | 16 October 2024

    Thanks very much

    Wessel Strydom | 16 October 2024

    Thank you and much enjoyable

    Albrecht | 16 October 2024

    A good read, thank you. Lovely line: “It was clear they were tasting the reputation of the cultivar and not the wine itself.” During a recent blind tasting, I was also reminded about the versatility of a specific variety such as Chenin Blanc. It has such a broad range of ‘styles’ that should make you more brand/producer aware when making your purchase.. an accepted challenge and joy for oenophiles, but possibly tricky for the broader mass market?

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