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I’ve been struck by something recently when walking around my local grocery store. The small bottle of wine is becoming more and more prevalent, no longer is it relegated to the low rung wines and airplane bars. Why is the small bottle important? Because it could represent a drastic but important change in the wine industry and with it a whole new group of buyers, not to mention increased sales figures for wineries.

The current traditional 750ml bottle size presents several related problems; mainly because it is a lot of wine for less than 3 people to consume. As a result it becomes relatively expensive for two people or less to drink. This is increased by the fact that you’re paying for wine you may not end up drinking if you don’t finish the bottle quickly enough after opening (depending on your stance on how long wine truly keeps). Switching to a smaller bottle would allow for more purchases by single people and it would bring the price point of good wine down to a more approachable level, bringing me to my next point…

As new people come to wine they don’t necessarily have the knowledge to always make the correct decision when it comes to a wine purchase. It becomes an unfortunate circumstance when someone spends a lot of money on a wine that is a wrong choice for their personal taste preferences (see www.tastevine.com). The small bottle allows for experimentation. Case in point, what is one of the most popular choices at a wine bar? The wine flights because people don’t trust their knowledge of wine to put all their money in one basket and people like variety. Its much more interesting to purchase a flight and experiment than it is to pick one bottle and drink it all night.

As an extension of that, the real advantage in wine sales with young people in America may come from the all-american six-pack model. Why aren’t wines being sold in small bottle flight-packs? You’d be dealing in a medium that young people know, keeping the price points low, and allowing new wine drinkers to experiment while mitigating the risk (and price) of picking a bad bottle. Sure there’d be increased costs of production but it is my belief that the resulting increase in sales would more than make up for it, not to mention the goodwill and brand loyalty you’d gain with young people. It may not be possible for the smallest of boutique wineries but for the mid-level to major level producers it seems like benefits of attempting it will far outweigh the costs. Have you seen an increase in small bottle prevalence where you live?

This is such an important idea, that I thought it should be followed up with another post, especially just now seeing the cover of the most recent Wine Spectator.

Renewable energies, recyclable supply chains, organic growing methods, and healthy lifestyles are the wave of the future. We won’t just be driving hydrogen powered cars and have our electricity generated from photovoltaic solar panels and off-shore wind farms. Every aspect of human nature is going to change… our habits, our routines, and even our thought processes… systematic instead of linear. Waste management and recyclables will be integrated into every imaginable human system to promote efficiency and productivity, foods will be organic and healthy lifestyles will be promoted, and most importantly, our planet will be cherished instead of cut down, polluted, and destroyed.

And what’s a better place to help start this movement than wineries? They’re some of the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing locations in the world (just look at the rise in wine tourism) and they create a product that is doctor recommended as good for your health, with red wine having the magical anti-aging component Resveratrol. Check out an old post about this: The Human Elixir

Aside from just being a Green evangelist, (although this revolution will absolutely make the world a healthier, happier, and wealthier place), green technologies and green marketing is something that wineries should certainly partake in. Not only will investment in green energy sources and eco-friendly farming methods make your winery more profitable and your product that much more natural and tasty, but having the ability to market yourselves as a Green winery will make you more attractive to your consumers.

When Al Gore released his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” last year, the trend tipped, making it more than a movement for treehugging hippies and Greenpeace activists. It’s now a movement that everybody is starting to get behind (other than Exxon and other special interested oil companies) all because of the overwhelmingly positive potential of its impact on our world. We’re hopefully about to enter another Golden Age of human civilization and wineries can help lead the way. It makes sense.

I just watched a clip on YouTube, and at time-code 2:43 beyond the gruesome attack on the elephant, a line from David Attenborough sent chills down my spine ‘Elephants know these drinking holes are dangerous, but they have no choice. The dramas that play out here are a savage reminder of how important water is.’ Having just read Collapse by Jared Diamond for a second time, I have the environment at the front of my mind. His chapter on Rwanda made me think about the impact of shortages on human society, and watching that You Tube clip in particular evoked all the images of the grim situation in and around the western border of Sudan.

As Friedman points out quite regularly, we are inescapably connected to the rest of the world, no matter what we may think. As soon as a company starts a website or begins exporting, they’ve gone global. One thing that Friedmans’ ‘electronic herd’ is beginning to flock to is sustainable resources in every shape and form. The wine industry has been a little slow on this, and I must commend pioneers like Fetzer, who have announced the first solar-powered vineyard. My first prize however goes to my own countrymen, who have long championed bio-diversity on a grand scale with an ever increasing membership through their Biodiversity and Wine Initiative.

As eco-consciousness and eco-tourism begin to flourish, it would be a welcome change to see the market reward the producers who have gone done so much to adapt their farming methods to modern standards so as to promote the future of our planet. It’s just a pity that most of them haven’t found a better way to communicate their message to the public, and to create awareness. The time will come when eco-wines wont just be a novelty, and such practices compulsory. However its up to us as the consumers to lead the charge.

One of the things I like the most about wine is the small shops that sell it. Yes there are big distributors and outlets, but it is amazing how important and interesting the network of small shops can be. While they may not have the selection of the larger stores, the small shops are communities that prove invaluable when it comes to learning about, talking about, or finding wine. If you are looking to learn more about wine, visiting your local merchant is a great way to do it and maybe make some friends in the process.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons that wine has been so slow in coming to the online table, is that it has always had the feel of a small and networked community in the real world. Much like the social communities now found on the web, this wine shop network is one of the few places in business today where they will make every effort to go out of their way to help you. As someone who is relatively new to the depths of wine, I’ve found it incredibly important to pick the collective brains of the owners of a small network of shops around where I live. Sure, some shops are better than others and you do have to experience a lot (visiting a lot of wine shops might not be the most terrible thing in the world), but by frequenting the shops near me I have been able to pick up on the knowledge of the staff and this has helped me accelerate my learning curve a great deal. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the recommendations of wine store staff.

Typically I’m skeptical when a store employee recommends a product to me. Perhaps it is the entrepreneur in me that wonders why they are telling me to buy this specific product and what’s in it for them. I can honestly say, though, that most of the people I’ve met who work in or own a wine shop do it out of love or passion, they genuinely love to share their experiences and their new finds; much like members of today’s online communities. Sure, some shops may get special benefits from pushing a certain wine (that’s good business) but on the whole I’m rarely disappointed by wines that the shops recommend to me.

When it comes to the wine shop I think it is important that a wine newbie find one they’re comfortable with. The shop can become a knowledge resource for you as you learn and the experienced staff there can become friends and mentors on your journey into wine. While you might pay a little more at your local shop than you would at a big box outlet, the knowledge you can gain and the people you can meet more than makes up for the money you would save by shopping elsewhere. The next step of course is to successfully transition this wonderful real world community to the world of web 2.0. Thankfully advances are being made with the advent of sites like Corkd, Calwineries, and Tastevine, which approach different segments of the younger market.

Now if someone were to ask me for my opinion on how the small wine shop could do a better job of staying in business, I’d take them back to my previous post. The details I’ve previously outlined apply as directly to the wine shop and the entire wine community as they do to the producers themselves. If any members of the wine community are still a bit unsure of how to make the leap or are interested in making the leap, feel free to contact us.