Marketing, with its rules and laws, as everyone knows, it is rough and ruthless,
common sense, which should favor a friendly life together, it is frequently
replaced by a less noble competition. Better to say, competition - alone - it is
not anything bad in case it is being used in a constructive way, however the
border between the licit and the less licit, between correctness and
a lesser correctness, it is frequently confused. All that in order to pursue
the legitimate goal of the economic profit. This is true for every field of
marketing, no matter the type of activity done. Does wine make an exception in
all that? In order to find the answer, it is enough to take a look at the
shelves in wine shops and malls, in the good words of producers and the way
bottles are dressed up, in order to understand wine does not certainly make
an exception. Indeed, competition in this field is very tough and ruthless.
In the world of wine we can talk about culture, tradition, passion and quality,
about noble and romantic stories, however it is indisputable - and, of course,
understandable - wine producers must also take care about their own profits. Of
course, this is not a fault: it is just understandable. In a society like ours,
in which - it cannot be denied and this does not certainly represent a noble
aspect - money has too much importance, pursuing a profit is understandable.
What it is less understandable, or better to say, less agreeable, is the way the
pursuing of profit is masked, even at the cost of selling an illusion to
customers, something which is different from and frequently having a lesser
value than the real value the object representing the purchase has. This also
happens for wine, there is no doubt about this. There are so many bottles out
there sold at pretty disputable prices and, once they are being poured in
glasses, they express a pretty disappointing quality, pretty ordinary, not
bad, but however far from their marketing value.
Disappointment is even bigger when you find out there are wines sold at lesser
prices and objectively expressing a superior quality. What a wonderful
thing is comparison, when you have the possibility to make it. In the specific
case of wine, there are many factors which can be used as a qualitative
comparison: producers, areas, grapes and countries, as to mention few of them.
The possibility of making comparisons could compromise, in many cases, the
pursuing of a profit, in case it is unfavorable. If you choose something, you
will not probably choose, or you will not choose anymore, the other. In an
enlarged world, where wine is being produced in many countries, the
possibility of making comparisons dramatically increases, in particular when the
products of the competition are sold at lower prices. As the offer increases,
the availability of products to choose increases as well, the competition then
becomes tougher, fought with any weapon, in order to be in a shinier light than
the others and in order to be chosen, in other word, to make a profit.
Competition certainly is a positive thing in case it is used in an intelligent
way and in order to improve something, in case it is used critically, it helps
to improve the quality of things. As we live in an imperfect world, sometimes
too much imperfect, competition, in its worst expression, frequently leads to a
non truly noble confrontation, where the only thing seen, in this obtuse
blindness, is one's own profit and interest. And it is not just about economic
interest only, but also cultural, traditional and historical: not only for money
clashes arise. Men are extraordinarily good to to make contrasts in order to
affirm themselves and their cultures over the others. Millennia of history
told us how much civilized was, and continues to be, the social progress in
this sense. Man seems not to understand it is less hard to listen and to
understand, to take advantage of the richness of mutual differences and to try
to live without contrasts, instead of making wars. For this reason are used
countermeasures which initially involve a small number of competitors living in
the same area, then it floods in the neighboring areas, in a process which
progressively involves a whole region, a whole country, the entire world.
In the world of wine, this competition is expressed in different ways, and one
should ask oneself, when it is expressed in the negative form of contrast only,
how much this benefits wine and the ones who like it. Chardonnay versus
Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer versus Riesling, Merlot versus Sangiovese,
Cabernet Sauvignon versus Zinfandel: the examples can go on and on. Moreover,
the conflict also involves other ways as well: a producer versus another, a wine
area versus another, a region versus another, a country versus another, all of
them being convinced what they have is better than anything else. To make things
even sadder, most of the times one does not realize he or she knows little about
what one has, nevertheless, what the others have. If we begin to understand
everyone has something to learn from anyone, and that everything indisputably
has good and bad qualities which make it absolutely unique, we would probably
fear less what we do not know. Chardonnay, for example, is a grape having good
and bad qualities, and the same is true for Sauvignon Blanc and for any other
grape. With what absolute criterion can be said what is the best one of the two
as to make a holy crusade?
Taste, which certainly is important and could answer this question, does not
represent - as a matter of fact - an absolute criterion: it simply is a relative
and subjective opinion. However, as it represents an opinion in which can be
recognized the personality of the one who expresses it, this can lead to
contrast among wine lovers as well. For example, there are many people who
believe the only wine worth to be considered as such is red wine, the rest is
not even seen. Even worst, most of the times, these are considerations expressed
without cause, as the quality of the other type of wines is unknown, they are
simply excluded without even knowing them. Contrasts of this kind can also be
seen in certain wines, considered by their supporters as the only ones worth of
consideration, in a way they refuse to think about looking beyond, as this would
be bad for their dignity and integrity of expert. All versus all, only
for the purpose of affirming oneself and something which is considered to be
better than the rest. Does this really benefits wine?
|