Wine & Spirits Education Trust Adopts Consumer-friendly Hanni Approach

I am very proud to formally announce that the Wine & Spirits Education Trust will be adopting my principles and approach to the enjoyment of wine with food for their Advanced Course curriculum. Their key textbook, Exploring the World of Wines and Spirits, is currently being revised, translated and reprinted with the new chapter and is scheduled for distribution this fall.

You can download a reprint of the new chapter, with the permission of the WSET, at http://www.timhanni.com/Wine_with_Food_WSET.pdf. I would be delighted to answer any questions and interested in comments on the material. I was in London earlier this month and was able to conduct a Master Class with the WSET team and it was very well received with some lingering doubts and resistance clearly evident from a few attendees.

I know that a lot of my assertions may at first seem extreme but I am very careful with my research and invite others to participate in helping to bring about positive change to an area that has become increasingly confusing and contradictory. My transition from staunch traditionalist to “disruptive innovator” in the wine and food arena did not come about either quickly or easily.

I am more convinced than ever that the way to globally expand wine sales and promote a greater diversity of wine styles will come from the wine community learning to celebrate the diversity of wine consumer tastes and deepen our understanding of individual consumer preferences. Combining this consumer-centric approach with a new and more accurate understanding of the dynamics of wine and food interactions with much-needed revisions to inaccurate wine and food principles could be the key for stimulating wine consumption from consumers who love wine but are off put by the unnecessary, confusing rituals and false promises of wine and food pairing. My mission is to expand wine enjoyment and by introducing a much greater rigor into a community that operates on a lot of half-truths and myths.

Join in with your comments and let me know what you think!

CONSUMER WINE AWARDS AT LODI FULFILLS PROMISE TO CELEBRATE DIVERSITY

An army of 120 wine consumers supported by a legion of over 100 local Rotarians convened in Lodi, California, to participate as Consumer Evaluators for the 2011 Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi. They sipped, spat and voted their favorites from nearly 700 wines submitted and the results covered a spectrum of wines that were as diverse as the spectrum of consumers who evaluated them. Platinum Awards went to twenty-one wines including an intense Lodi Zinfandel, two delicate Pinot Grigios, a high-end Napa Valley Bordeaux blend, a Chardonnay from Pennsylvania, a Chardonnay from Virginia and even a generic, boxed “Rhine” wine from California.

What makes this event so unique is that panels of consumers, not wine critics or experts, are selected to evaluate categories of wines that they love. This means that the awards are given by the very people who most frequently select the types of wines they are asked to evaluate. "We recognized that some wines which get a shrug from the experts are getting kudos from the everyday consumers who buy and drink them," says Competition Co-Director "Pooch" Pucilowski.

Christine Carroll, from Crossing Vineyards, Crossing, PA and Platinum Award winner for 2008 Viognier, wrote the organizers saying, “These awards mean so much more to us than the political, wine-snob-driven competitions we often enter. You have no idea how tough it is to prove that world class wine can be produced in Pennsylvania! Your recognition encourages us to go quietly about the process of making good, affordably priced wines every day. We will keep fighting the good fight.”

Master of Wine Tim Hanni, who is responsible for the unique focus and methodology employed for the event, points out, “Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi encompasses all of the things we value and are working to bring to the wine community. We are exploring a better understanding of consumer preferences and values to develop peer-to-peer wine recommendations as an alternative, not replacement, to expert or wine critic recommendations. The wine industry is missing the mark and spending too much time trying to tell consumers what they like instead of listening and finding out what they want. The Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi is part of a bigger movement to end “the tyranny of the minority” of a handful of critics, who tend to focus on a very narrow range of wines, and expose more people to the phenomenal wines from around America and beyond. We are thrilled that so many lesser-known wines performed so magnificently.”

A full listing of results and information on the 2012 Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi can be found at http://www.consumerwineawards.com/.

Contact: Tim Hanni MW, tim@timhanni.com

How (Or If) You Wear Underwear May Provide Insights to Wine Preferences

Individual sensory sensitivity manifested in strange ways.

My research colleague, Dr. Virginia Utermohlen MD, and I are proposing that the range and intensity of sensations we experience varies, often dramatically, from one person to the next and these individual differences play an important role in determining individual wine preferences. It is well known that people often argue about the characteristics and qualities they perceive in a wine—it's as if they were not tasting or smelling the same thing. This disagreement is known to occur among experts, even when they are sharing from the exact same bottle. We propose that these differences in perception often stem from sensitivity variables. Furthermore these variables are evident in a spectrum of individual attitudes and behaviors and may even influence the development of our personality traits.

Someone who is extremely sensitive to touch is usually more sensitive to other sensory stimuli: light, sound, taste, and smell. This insight helps explain a lot of things people disagree on in life, from the temperature in the room, to the use of cilantro in a recipe, to the volume of the television, to the sheets that you sleep on.

Virginia and I were recently reviewing data collected from wine consumers and discussing how heightened taste sensitivity is manifested in many other behaviors related to sensory sensitivity—ranging from finding the right thermostat settings to the need to cut tags out of clothing because it is so irritating. She inquired, “Have you ever asked people if they wear their underwear inside out?”

“Dear god”, I asked, “what on earth for?” Virginia went on to explain that a common behavior of ultra-sensitive people, who tend to prefer sweet or very light dry wines, is to invert their undies due to the irritation from the seams against their skin. Or, she said, they oftentimes just abandon wearing undergarments altogether. Inquiring minds want to know, so I have begun asking this question at events and wine tastings where I conduct our Taste Sensitivity Quotient (TasteSQ) interview.

During a TasteSQ interview at a recent wine tasting in San Francisco, I tried the question for the first time with a gentleman who hit all of the other questions for a Sweet (ultrasensitive) taster dead-on: can’t stand coffee (too bitter), loves salt (a sign of more taste buds, not less), and experiences a horrible, bitter and metallic taste from artificial sweeteners. And yes, he loved sweet wines and could not stand the horrible taste of dry wines. I proceeded to make assertion after assertion on things like his need to cut tags out of his clothes, how loud restaurants completely ruin even the most delicious food, and that his Mother experienced severe morning sickness with him. He was amazed. Feeling this was the perfect chance I asked, “Do you ever wear your underwear inside out?” He almost fell over. It was evident, and he later confirmed the answer, saying “Yep – how the h*** did you know THAT?” His friends were quite amused.

It was a simple deductive process. People who love sweet or delicate wines are typically what we call Sweet or Hypersensitive tasters. They share common traits such as hypersensitivity to light, sound, smell and, in this case, touch. In fact, they live in a vivid cacophony of sensations that other people cannot even imagine. This means they tend to seek out wines that are sweet or delicate, and they require the wines to be low in alcohol and ultra-smooth tasting.

A common behavior of these ultrasensitive individuals is to turn their undies inside out or to abandon wearing them at all. With my insatiable curiosity fired up I am delving deeper into this phenomenon and finding people who abandon undies altogether are reticent to share the information, but their stuttering and blushing give away their secret. Another connection to the term “blush wine”? Kidding.

Sweet and Hypersensitive tasters, who have the most taste buds and share an aversion to bitterness, high alcohol, and tannin will seek out wines that are often sweet, such as Moscato or White Zinfandel, or delicate dry wines, like dry Riesling or Pinot Grigio. They seek out and enjoy the very wines abandoned by the wine critics and wine community in general. Light, delicate, smooth and fragrant.

Boy, this assertion is going to get my detractors’ panties in a wad. That is, if they are wearing any.

New Hope for Mothers of Picky Eaters

Research shows picky eaters are the most sensitive tasters, provides new hope to frustrated mothers everywhere.
March 14, 2011, Napa, CA: Children who are picky eaters often have highly sensitive palates with heightened perception of bitterness. As a result they will typically avoid healthy vegetables while gravitating to salty and fatty foods thus developing a host of life-long, unhealthy eating habits that may result in higher risks of disease, obesity, and cancer. They may also be more likely to end up with diminished confidence and low self-esteem, according to Dr. Virginia Utermohlen.

The solution for preparing kid-friendly foods lies in a technique called "flavor balancing" developed by her research partner, Master of Wine and chef Tim Hanni. Says Utermohlen, "I am a highly sensitive taster myself; I was, and still am, a very picky eater and never have been able to eat green beans or many other vegetables. When I tried some fresh green beans prepared with Tim's flavor balancing technique I polished off a whole plate full!"

Utermohlen is a pediatrician, researcher and recently retired professor in the Cornell University Division of Nutritional Sciences, who studies how taste and smell sensitivity are related to personality, food choice, eating attitudes and behavior, and choice of profession. Tim Hanni MW is the founder of the Napa Seasoning Company, a trained chef and Master of Wine who studies how sensory sensitivity variables affect consumer wine and food preferences. Utermohlen and Hanni teamed up two years ago to conduct deeper research on the role of sensory physiology in shaping human food and beverage preferences, behaviors and even personality traits. Their research not only shows that picky eaters crave salt, love sweets and avoid bitter foods and beverages, but that these picky eaters grow up feeling embarrassed about their preferences and often alienated or even punished at the table. Says Hanni, “It is time we learned to better understand and cultivate, not punish, young palates.”

Contact: Tim Hanni MW tim@napaseasoning.com or 707-337-0327

Pinot Noir Summit to Assess Consumer Wine Favorites by Taste Sensitivity Quotient

How consumers' wine preferences mesh with the preferences of other consumers with similar taste sensitivity will be determined at a pioneering tasting program in the 9th Annual Pinot Noir Summit February 26 at the San Francisco Hilton. "By establishing the TasteSQ (http://www.tastesq.com/) of the participants, we can easily show how your TasteSQ  influences your Pinot Noir syle preferences and then how that matches with other people with a similar sensitivity," said Tim Hanni, MW, who created the Consumer Wine Preference format with Cornell's Virginia Utermohlen, M.D. "For the first time they'll be able to tell which wines are best suited to which groups of tasters."

How it works: the experts and the consumers will be assessed by Hanni for their Taste SQ (Sensitivity Quotient) to determine if they are a Sweet, Hyper-sensitive, Sensitive or Tolerant taster. Their TasteSQ will be recorded on their ballot as they taste through the range of wines selected from the Pinot Noir Shootout and select their top three favorite wines. Hanni and Dr. Utermohlen, partners in TasteScience, will analyze the results by TasteSQ segments to demonstrate how differences in consumer preferences can be understood and explained by taste sensitivity. This information will be available with the overall results from the event.

Pinot Noir enthusiasts will taste 64 top Pinot Noirs blind, as well as attend wine workshops and tasting with winemakers and wine educators. The daylong program costs$125, with a portion going to Junior Achievement. For tickets, register at http://www.affairsofthevine.com/. For further information contact Barbara Drady, Affairs of the Vine, 707/874-1975 or barbara@affairsofthevine.com.

To take the 2011 Consumer Wine Preferences Survey go to http://www.consumerwineawards.com/

Search for Wine Consumers to Evaluate Hundreds of Wines

The Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi is seeking everyday wine lovers to participate in a wine preferences survey and apply to become a Consumer Wine Evaluator. Please take our 20 minute survey even if you are unable to participate in the event. We want to hear from you and you can go to http://www.consumerwineawards.com/ to take our survey and apply to be one of our Evaluators.

The Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi takes place at Hutchins Street Square in Lodi, CA, on Saturday, March 19th, 2010 from approximately 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM and possibly on Sunday, March 20th, 2011, from approximately 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We also have our famous 'After Party' from 6:00 to 9:00 and everyone is invited to participate in this event ($25.00 per person, Consumer Wine Evaluators free).

We are looking for a broad spectrum of 'everyday' wine consumers with little or no formal wine tasting training or high level wine education - our special evaluation process is amazingly simple to learn. But you certainly can be passionate about wine AND WE WANT PEOPLE WHO CELEBRATE WINES THAT ARE WELL-MADE, DISTINCT AND EVEN SOMETIMES UNUSUAL - NOT A BUNCH OF HARSH 'CRITICS'!

No expenses or compensation are provided - it is up to you to make all travel and accommodation arrangements. You will be invited, as our guest and at no charge, to attend the 'After Party' on Saturday evening. Tickets will be available at a fee for additional guests.

Do you meet these qualifications?

You have a spirit of discovery, adventure and willingness to try new wines. Evaluation panels will be made up of people who love the types of wine they are evaluating. People with specific preferences for major wine types will be selected to assess those types of wine. We are also encouraging the submission of wines from all around the world including many lesser-known varieties and styles and will do our best to assign those wines, according to primary flavors, to the appropriate panels. Last year, for example, a Rhubarb wine from South Dakota nearly earned the highest award possible missing by the narrowest margin possible while an elegant and complex Rocca Cabernet Sauvignon took the highest honors for that variety.

You need to understand that this may actually be WORK! You may anticipate tasting in the neighborhood of 40 wines over the course of 3 hours. Tasting and then SPITTING the wine is required and special training to develop your spitting skills will be provided.

While this is a fun event it is imperative to maintain a serious attitude and demeanor during the introduction, training and evaluation. It is very important, especially as wine is an alcoholic beverage, to ensure the safe and moderate execution of this program.

Thank you again for your interest in our program. Whether or not you are selected as a Consumer Wine Evaluator you are invited to visit Lodi for the weekend and join us Saturday, March 19th at Hutchins Street Square for the After Party (only $25.00 per person for non-evaluators). To take the survey, buy tickets to the After party or learn more go to http://www.consumerwineawards.com/.

Prediction: 2011 to Become the “Year of the Wine Consumer”

I love the adage, “If I ask you what time it is don’t tell me how the watch works.” And I confess that I am as guilty as any wine expert for launching into a lesson on history, geology and fermentation sciences when asked the simple question, “What would be a nice wine for my dinner tonight?”

 

This being said I think it is high time that the wine industry and our community of wine experts, educators, consultants and sommeliers take the point of this saying to heart. Some people are really curious and passionate about understanding minute details about wines: where they come from, how they are made, how made them and how to best describe their experience with fantastic descriptive details of flora, fauna, numerical ratings and god only knows what else. This is well and good if the person or people you are dealing with are on the same plane. The problem is that many people simply don’t give a rat’s butt about all of the details and trivia about wine. They just want something that tastes good without all of the hoopla and without the inference that they must become more “educated” before they can enjoy a nice glass of wine. And things have been getting worse as of late.

Over the past few decades the missive for many wine pundits has been to “educate consumers to appreciate better wines.” Behind this noble effort is a misguided premise that “better” wine is dry, intense, high in alcohol and often emitting smells that can be likened to Carmen Miranda’s head gear, cat’s pee (seriously), old socks or wet dogs. The bottom-line for all of this a covert agenda of “let’s get more consumers to spend more money on wines they may not like.” I we turn the tables and have the wine industry become as passionate about understanding and embracing wine consumers as we are about learning and disseminating wine trivia.

My prediction for 2011 is that more and more wine authorities and educators will finally take up the practice of learning to listen to consumers and back off on the inappropriate assumption that all consumers want to be educated about wine. And ditto for the incorrect assumption that all consumers are always searching for new wine experiences. Many are, and the Year of the Wine Consumer is not about stifling wine education or suppressing the desire of many to constantly explore new wines. The Year of the Wine Consumer is more about finding out where a consumer want to go and then getting them to the products that will delight them without the unnecessary baggage of intimidation, arrogance and misassumptions about what they really like and want from a wine.

To make this prediction a reality two things need to happen. First, wine consumers need to have a stronger voice and take on a powerful posture that their personal preferences count. This means to demand from the wine people you encounter that they cater you’re your needs, not the greater glory of Bacchus and the other false gods of wine.

Secondly, the wine community; educators, mavens, sommeliers, and experts, need to learn to listen for what consumers are really asking for. Would you like to be taken on a wild journey or stick to something close to home, warm and comfortable? We would become focused on asking, “What do I need to know about you?” so we can help custom tailor a wine selection that will rock your world. Our mission for the “Year of the Wine Consumer” is to get the attention focused on the consumers’ wants and needs with the option to go for a ride still open and available to anyone who cares.

If you are a wine consumer and like the idea of the wine industry being of better service to you here is how you can help. My partner, Dr. Virginia Utermohlen MD, and I are conducting a survey in conjunction with the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi and we want you to participate. It will probably take about 20 minutes as this is not silly cliché-riddled throwaway project. There is some serious science going on behind the scenes and we are really working hard to get people who are tired of the confusion, overwhelm and lack of personalized service when looking for help with your wine selections. Please take the 20 minutes and forward this piece on to anyone and everyone you know who enjoys wine but is tired of the ordeal and expense of trying to find wines that suit your personal preferences.

Help us make 2011 the Year of the Wine Consumer by going to www.consumerwineawards.com and selecting the link: Take the NEW 2011 Consumer Survey. And then send this along to every wine drinker you know so they can do the same. Let them know that the wine industry is finally ready to listen and that the new wine education mission is to learn how to be more of service and become better listeners.

Celebrate Consumer Diversity for a Healthier, More Diverse Wine Industry

Wine consumers come in all shapes, sizes, gender, adult age and socio-economic groups. Wines come in many colors, flavors, styles and price points. Long term growth, expansion of production in emerging regions, acceptance of overlooked-but-traditional and new wine types and a general better health prognosis for the wine industry will come from celebrating the diversity of wines, wine consumers and the diversity of rating, scoring and communications systems to get the right consumer to the right product.

The way to expand wine sales and promote a greater diversity of wine styles will come from the wine community learning to celebrate the diversity of wine consumer tastes and deepen our understanding of individual consumer preferences. This strategy will allow the peaceful coexistence of different valuation systems that are geared towards, and can be custom fit to, the wants and needs of different groups of consumers.

My friend John Stallcup says that wine style, fashion and quality is largely dictated by the “tyranny of the minority”; a handful of wine critics who favor dry, highly concentrated and intense wines. This has resulted in the homogenization of wine styles around the world and stifled the efforts of vintners who favor delicacy, lesser known grape varieties or produce wine in lesser-known growing regions. Modern communications and technology are having an impact on expanding wine communication. But the frustration of new-age critics, bloggers and wine producers is omnipresent as more pressure is mounted to find alternatives to end the 30-year dominance of the 100 point rating system.

This “tyranny of the minority” results in a hyper-focus on a handful of regions, producers and wine styles. While terrific wines are being produced in every state in the US and several Provinces in Canada there is less attention paid to the passionate efforts of these vintners outside of their state or province of production. Even producers in Europe, where they have been growing and making wine for centuries, are now facing ”identity crises”. As winegrowers in Chianti, Bordeaux and other regions vie to “fight it out for the points” many lament that the wines are losing their personality and character, instead becoming homogenous and indistinguishable “modern” style of wines so fashionable with the majority of wine critics and gatekeepers.

It is important to stress that this is a call to end the DOMINANCE of the 100 point system – not a call to end the 100 point system itself. There is a definable, established and viable market segment of people who clearly favor the types of wines earning high scores in the “more equals better” equation and find the 100 point system works perfectly for their needs. The opportunity is to develop and promote meaningful alternative systems for people who do not enjoy the higher alcohol, high intensity types of wines favored by this method of valuation.

So how can we sell a more diverse spectrum of wines to the largest, most diverse range of consumers? Now is the time to create a new approach to wine marketing and communications. One that does not destroy any of the existing systems yet will usher in a new era of better understanding and personalizing the experience for wine consumers. The consumers are out there, there is plenty of wine to go around and the time is ripe for change.

Help us get wine consumers to take our survey! Wine professionals are welcome to weigh in but we really want to get this out past the gatekeepers and reach every day wine consumers.


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/cwal2011
About the Consumer Wine Awards
The Consumer Wine Awards is an international wine competition open to wines grown and produced anywhere in the world and represents a viable alternative for generating meaningful, peer-to-peer wine recommendations. It is entering its’ fourth year and second year employing panels of untrained consumers instead of traditional wine experts. We will begin accepting wines January 1, 2011, to be tasted March 19 and 20, 2011. The submission forms and handbook can be downloaded at www.consumerwineawards.com.

Top Expert Declares Wines Should Be Homogenized, Lifeless Commodities!

If you are reading this I apparently got your attention. The intention of this post is to help people get past the incorrect conclusions drawn by many people about my work.

Seems that if I am to infer the wine industry might be better off learning more about consumers and applying that learning to promoting the expansion of wine consumption that what I REALLY and saying is we need to produce bland, homoginized, cheap wines with no soul or character and sell them to consumers that I think are morons. Here is a lovely example of how the logic seems to go:

I recently posted a comment to a blog on balance that predicatbly inspired lively debate and opposing points of view. I used a Napa Valley Cabernet for an example of a wine people might perceive differentlly from a standpoint of balance, primarily how differently we experience alcohol and tannin. My comment was framed by the Sufi parable about 3 blind men describing how they perceived an elephant and I used generalizations from my research on taste sensitivity to illustrate how physiological sensory variables shape our differing experiences and the descriptions and opinions we form of those experiences. Here is the response it elicited:

Ticked off California wine critic: “I think he makes too much of his pet theories, but then we all do. But when he drags them in to suggest that only people with dull palates could appreciate CA Cabs, then he goes too far.”

Blog author, “I didn't take Tim's comment to be a broadbrush stroke against CA wines.”

Critic, expanding his hostility and errant correlations, “frankly, how can the story be interpreted any other way. Only the third blind blogger, the one with no taste buds (hmmm – I never said that), likes CA wines…And what he sees is that only blind bloggers with no tastebudes like CA wine. That would suggest that 95% of all Californians are borne with fewer taste buds than average (hmmm - I said never said that). Sorry, Joe, but that kind of logic cannot be left unchallenged”

Yowser – that is sure a stretch! He then goes over to attack me on his own blog:
"So, today, over on Joe Roberts’ site, Mr. Hanni, brought his “number of taste buds” theory to bear on why some people never like California wine...To put it another way, apparently 95% of people living in California are born with an insufficient number of taste buds and we just do not know any better...This theory gets what it deserves: F"


Although the  headline for this blog is the farthest thing from my mind, people who are passionate and very expert about wine seem very confronted and afraid that this is what I am proposing - and unwilling to learn more about it. All I can say is get over it. My consumer research and movement is directed to end the ‘tyranny of the minority’, restore the possibility of making wines with MORE character and MORE diversity is being met with great resistance, ignorance and hostility.

All this cynicism, hostility and fear is aimed towards me for looking for NEW solutions to create a stronger market and add more value to the entire wine industry.

Here is my mission: understand, embrace and cultivate ALL wine consumers.

Here is my plan: 

• Re-educate the wine industry versus relying on educating the wine consumers on BS (not that this stops educating consumers – just changes the game in a big way and will require a lot of revision to materials and information)
• Conduct more NEW consumer research to really understand the market – not the wine but also not excluding wine research.
• Disseminate better and more accurate information that encourages people to explore new wines more confidently, confidently share their preference
• Abolish the fear, intimidation and overwhelm we have created, and continue to radiate, because of OUR ignorance. Many people think they are doing this but they are just doing the same-old-stuff in a new way with the same outcome.

And beware! There will be more focus coming your way on sweet wine consumers – AND big red wine consumers and sparkling wine consumers and light white wine consumers and pink wine consumers and fortified wine consumers and people who love terroir and people who love 100 point systems and people who love Italian, French, Australian, South African, New Zealand and South American wines – plus wines from anywhere I may have missed in this incomplete wine.

From the point of fear and cynicism in the wine community here are a few nuggets from the field:

“Aw, jeez, Tim. Now I understand why your posts have had a bit of irritation for me… You view wine as a commodity –“

“you are-in my opinion-an idiot.”

“Seriously, your argument is ridiculous.”

“I read the Hanni piece a bit like Charlie did, as more pathetic than anything else. Hanni should know better.”

“Anybody who says their goal in life is to make simple what we wine critics over-analyze is giving you a simplistic explanation and one moreover you should take with a grain of salt. Beware the demystification industry. It’s not as pure and disinterested as you might think.”

And now another take from a few of the people (and wine producing regions) where they see understanding consumers and opportunity:

“We are working with the Sauternais to 'Liberez les Sauternes' or free Sauternes from it's labeling as a dessert wine and I instinctively feel that you might be able to help us. The Sauternais drink their wines with fish, roast meats and spicy foods as well as with dessert - they can't understand why the world insists on drinking it only with sweet dishes, cheese or foie gras… The 'anti-sweet' phenomenon is frustrating and confusing to them. They sense that, if left alone to choose, most people would prefer to drink sweet wines much more frequently and your research suggests that this might be the case. If there is anything that you can send to help our mini-movement I would be most grateful…” From producers in a classic region, producing great wine of style and character, frustrated and facing lost market by the obtuse and narrow thinking of the wine industry!

“Tim, your name has been recommended to me at least 5 times in the last week and I see why now! Your review of who I am and what I like, I have to say spot on!” From a blogger who asked the question – “who am I”

“I’ve been ridiculed by black coffee–drinking big cab lovers as not having a “sophisticated” palate for preferring sweet wines — fruit-far-forward rieslings and icewines, preferably — to pucker-producing titans of tannin. I like icewines, because they don’t have the bite of high-alcohol ports or the like. A Napa Valley chef recently tried to convince me that learning to savor bitterness was part of “growing up” as a cosmopolitan connoisseur.” From a MALE wine business writer who is embarrassed to tell people what kind of wines he enjoys the most.

“I really love how you continue to refine and hone in on this tremendous wealth of information you have. This is a great distillation, very clear. A great set up for exploring and learning. How exciting that it will be part of these curriculums!” From one of the Napa Valley’s greatest chefs.

So who is against growing the industry? Seems like a lot of people think consumers are too stupid to know what they should like and the job of the wine expert is to save them from themselves. I propose there is a better way.

Confidence = Consumption

Wine consumers are a curious lot and wine experts are even curiouser (?). What do people really want fer christsake? Why do they like the wines they like, and why don’t we all agree on what is, or isn’t, quality and value? Pretty simple, really – we are all different. The question seems to be, “how different are we, what are these differences and what does it matter?”

And it turns out it is our (the wine trade and experts) relative ignorance of taste sensitivity and basic human behavior that is making millions of potential wine consumers feel intimadated and lose confidence in their ability to enjoy "sophisticated" wines. After a year of survey development, collection and data crunching Dr. Virginia Utermohlen, MD and I are excited to announce we are one step closer to a solution!

One of the fascinating things that came out of the data we have been looking at from our just-concluded wine consumer research project, conducted in conjunction with the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi is that “confident consumers are consuming consumer.” And the most confident consumers are a phenotype we categorize from our research as Tolerant tasters: they are physiologically predisposed to love red wines. They want red wines regardless of occasion or meal. They can tolerate lots of intensity, bitterness, tannin and high levels of alcohol. They know what they like and how to get at it.

The least confident segment? Those we categorize as Sweet and Hyper-sensitive who are physiologically predisposed to abhor the wines favored by the Tolerant crowd. And here is where this matters: the disenfranchised consumers of light wines, sweet or dry, are 6 times more likely to be embarrassed about the wines they drink and 10 times more likely to drink wine less than once a month than a Tolerant consumer. There is a clear-cut correlation between taste sensitivity, confidence and wine consumption. And don't you think for a second they are not drining - they are over at the bar slurping down the appletinis, cosmos and myriad other drinks where they are not punished and stigmatized for having more taste buds!

I propose that this is an amazing opportunity for the wine industry and we really need to address the issues that keep so many consumers, at all levels of interest and participation, so overwhelmed and confused. And with the enormous range of products and differing opinions from wine experts, is it any wonder?

With over 80,000 wines in the US market alone the vast majority of wine consumers are confused, intimidated and overwhelmed - even stigmatized for their wine preferences. And 'wine education' as it is presented today, only makes matters worse in many cases. Wine experts, writers and bloggers argue over wine characteristics that are clearly perceived differently and this is directly related to the range and intensity of sensations we are physiologically capable of experiencing.

The battle is raging once again in the blogosphere even as we speak – "what defines ‘balance’?" for a 'taste' of the argument go to my pal Joe Robert's site: 1WineDude. The answer lies in understanding your sensitivity quotient and how this affects your personal experience (range and intensity of sensations) of wine flavors. Your taste sensitivity combined with your unique, ever-changing neural programming over time as a result of culture, society, learning, experience and aspirations and voila! - YOUR personal preferences. Throw on top of this an understanding of OTHER people's sensitivities and holy moly - no more arguing, just get that it can be radiaclly different one person to the next.

A Sufi Parable Revisited (also see my post 3 Blind Men and a Wine )
Three blind bloggers were asked to taste a high-scoring Napa Cabernet and describe the balance of fruit, oak and alcohol of the wine to a universe of spectators. The first blind man was a hyper-sensitive taster with over ten thousand taste buds, the next a sensitive taster with 2,000 buds and the third a tolerant taster with somewhere around 500 taste papillae. All were wine lovers, passionate and oh so knowledgeable, but they were unaware of their physiological sensory equipment and radically differing perception. Each of them tasted the wine and spoke in turn:

“Yech, this wine is horrible – the jammy fruit, burning alcohol, excessive oak – how can anyone drink an unbalanced, over-the-top wine like this? It would ruin any meal,” said the first blind blogger.

The second blind blogger weighed in, “This wine is representative of the style I have grown tired of – have learned to seek wines of greater finesse and that is why I joined the Anything But Cabernet movement.”

“Ah, nirvana!” quote the third expert. “Full, rich and powerful; smooth and hedonistically satisfying with a sweet fruit core. 95 points!”

The spectators looked on in confusion. Bewildered, they silently wondered which of these mavens was right – what should they look for, how on earth should they make decisions and who could they turn to so they could make a smart buying decision? It was as if each of the blind bloggers were feeling up the same elephant and describing it as either a snake, a tree trunk and a rope.

FYI, for anyone in the wine trade (or interested in general) interested in the results of the study Dr. Virginia Utermohlen and I have been working on we are releasing our full report titled Wine Consumer Segmentation: Beverage preferences, Attitudes, and Behaviors for purchase. If you are in wine production, marketing and/or communications you can learn more about the study and place your order today at THIS LINK. We will be delivering the report electronically this Friday, December 10, 2010.

A copy of our free summary report can be downloaded at http://www.timhanni.com/. It is a comparison of the Sweet and Tolerant phenotype groups and chock full of great information. The summary provides a thumbnail look at the background and format of the information that is available in the full report. The full report covers all four segments we have identified and slices and dices the data in detail calling out opportunities for strategically marketing to ALL consumers who choose wine in a more powerful and targeted manner.