After VinePair’s Malbec buying guide went live earlier this month, Maryland’s Old Westminster winery completely sold out of its 2020 vintage. We don’t say this as a braggadocious claim of influence, but rather to point out that the grape variety remains widely popular despite many winemakers’ efforts to push esoteric wines on their customers.
The impulse to promote lesser-known juice isn’t unique to the wine industry, but producers embracing and acting upon that impulse certainly is. Take the beer industry by comparison: Some brewers may want to make funky saisons and offbeat pilsner styles, but they still make IPAs because that’s what the people want. And they don’t necessarily try to convince their customers otherwise. The same thing should be true in wine. At the end of the day, when a customer buys a bottle, they want to be engaged — not necessarily educated.
On this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” Adam, Joanna, and Zach discuss why Malbec remains an important variety for American drinkers and, more broadly, how recognizable varieties are still supremely important in the American wine conversation. While there’s room for — and certainly some interest in — more obscure varieties, the power of the most well-known grapes and styles remains undiminished, despite many years of longing and attempts at education from certain sectors of the wine industry and media. Tune in for more.
Joanna is reading: This Winter’s Hottest Cocktail Trend? Frozen Drinks
Zach is reading: Why Did the Sommelier Take My Bottle of Wine Away After Opening It?
Adam is reading: In a Post-Prohibition World, What’s the Point of ‘Speakeasies’?
