I Don’t Know How to Feel About This

Last week’s lineup of industry headlines included this eye-popping nugget: Bill Koch's Incredible Wine Collection Just Sold for a Record $28.8 Million at Auction.  Frankly, I’m not sure how to feel about it. Let’s set aside the ethical question as to whether any individual needs $28.8 million dollars’ worth of anything. It certainly sounds like a lot of stuff. But unlike an art, car, jewelry, or antique collection, wine arrives with an expiration date. Wine keeps getting better with age, until it doesn’t. It’s a bad wine day when you uncork your $31,250 magnum of Château Latour 1961 Grand Vin only to discover you’ve waited too long, and now you’re pouring very bougie vinegar (like thanks, CellarTracker Community Wine Reviews…). This dilemma rests at the core of my unease with Mr. Koch’s former wine collection: wine is celebratory beverage designed to be shared in community.

Absolutely!  100% yes!

If I were offered a taste from the Methuselah of 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, I’d imbibe gleefully (and gratefully). I’ll never have an opportunity to taste most of the wines auctioned from this collection, so sure, perhaps I’m writing with whiff of envy. But in a wine market fraught with “industry headwinds,” is this really the headline to celebrate?

fomo

Auction success is built by FOMO. Whether it’s a preschool auction of well-heeled mommies battling for Pollock-esque splatter art or the winning paddle raise of an ’85 Roumier Bonnes Mares, good auctioneers manipulate the game. Entice, tease, and bait competing bidders while building suspense for top dollar wins. Indeed, Christie’s $28.8 million dollar haul elicits all the feels: eye rolls, gasps, and expletives. Despite the (inevitable) eye rolls, it’s actually pretty cool that “nearly half of the registrants (42 percent) were new to wine auctions at Christie’s, according to the auction house.” This is exciting news for an industry aiming to grow its big tent,  especially as “older wine enthusiasts age out of the market, [and] younger consumers are not replacing them at the same rate.” The Koch wine auction appears to buck that trend. Christie’s is courting enophiles passionate enough to register for a wine auction. Woohoo. That’s good news for all of us. More wine lovers = more wine lovers. (And hey, not every day can be a La Tache day. Some days are Bruliam days).

$28.8 Million is a Big Number

Wine already battles a staid, deeply entrenched, and unhelpful misconception: wine is for elite, snobby, rich people. Wine drinkers broadcast a consistent stereotype of discerning palates honed by years of drinking exclusive wines from exclusive vintages in exclusive places. Alas, wine is not the beverage of the people. But things could look different. Wine could discard this boring, hoity-toity trope. Even if wine and wineries and winemakers and their marketing campaigns aim to communicate inclusivity, I’d argue we (as an industry) can do better. As journalist Lisa Denning writes, “the American wine retail scene is going through major changes driven by shifting tastes, economic challenges, new technology, and evolving cultural trends.” These new market stressors should inspire creative and meaningful change. Change is opportunity. Unfortunately, celebrating a $28.8M headline reinforces the same, tired idea- that wine is out of reach (& out of touch!); a $28.8M wine budget reaffirms that “wine is not for me.” I fear that celebrating the $28.8 million dollar headline discourages both wine newbies and the wine curious.

Whether you’re a connoisseur or a wine newbie, wine education is a cornerstone of my work.

Celebrating the Right Stuff

Wine is great with food. Wine brings people together. Wine concerns history and culture and sense of place. Wine teaches us about geography, climate, and our environment. Wine is family farming. Wine is natural; it’s made from grapes. Wine is fun. Wine is delicious. Wine invites conversation and beckons community. Clearly, we can disseminate better messaging than “the best wines cost $28.8 million,” since best is subjective. I’ll argue that the best wine is the bottle you uncorked after defending your PhD thesis or hiking to the top of the waterfall, alongside a picnic lunch or during your honeymoon, gazing into your spouse’s eyes as the sun sets over the sea. And you know why? Because each example represent a wine experience, a palate memory. A gavel drop “sold to the man in the back” is not the same thing.

Food & Wine are Natural Partners. Food + wine + gavel? Not so much…

The Best People Share Their Cellars

This is because wine is about the experience of enjoying a particular bottle, on a particular day, in a particular moment. And those circumstances are irreproducible. Because wine is an organic beverage, ever changing in the bottle, you’ll never experience a bottle exactly that way ever again. How mind-blowing is that? So, let’s instead celebrate the magic, joy, and wonder of sharing a unique, authentic, one-of-a-kind experience. Savvy wine writers are already doing it. Both the “Come Over October” and “Share and Pair Sundays” campaigns encourage sharing time (& wine) with friends. My favorite wine writers are shouting it.  Renowned wine critic and journalist Virginie Boone writes, “Wine is the great connector, a link to the past, present and future, to history and family roots, a living time capsule that in its most ideal form brings people together.”  Longtime NYT columnist Eric Asimovv reminds us that “wine has always been a social beverage, a component of meals that bring people together and create community.” The wine journalist couple Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher concur that “over the years, many people have said to us, ‘I don’t know how to describe wines.’ Well, we hear you. This wine was not so much a taste as an experience.”  Lastly,  writer Boris Fishman nails it: “In a life that too often feels stripped of magic — whether because of our political hostility, the radical inequality in our society or the instantaneity required of everything — wine is a passport to transcendence. If water is life-giving, wine is psychedelic.”

Wine brings people together.

“Wine is a Passport to Transcendence”

Sharing food and wine and time and memories need not be fussy or precious, but it should feel exclusive, since it’s yours to cultivate. After all, my wine heroes Dottie and John recently celebrated an anniversary by uncorking a special bottle at New York Philharmonic’s annual free concert in Central Park, surrounded by hundreds of music lovers, lounging on blankets. They write, “Sometimes, you just have to grit your teeth and pull the cork on a treasure…So we packed up a picnic from Zabar’s and headed out.” Isn’t that exactly the antidote to life online, our proxy avatars, and generative AI content, the practice of being in community? Your special bottle, or really any bottle, can be part of that movement. Let wine be your excuse to hit pause and better connect with friends and family. I promise that the path to enchantment can be yours for far less $28.8 million.

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