One of the joys of travelling to different wine regions is that you actually also get a bit of an insight into the culture, history, tradition and society of the regions or countries your visit.
A very striking example of this is the wine regions we have visited recently on our latest tours: Argentina, Chile and South Africa. They are all part of what we – perhaps sloppily – call The New World wine countries. They are also economies that are “developing” economies. From a wine perspective there are many similarities: there are a lot of new initiatives, many exciting winemakers and entrepreneurs. And a lot of good wine. Looking at them as countries though they are strikingly different.
Chile is the richest, if you look at GDP per capita. South Africa is the poorest. Argentina somewhere in between. Both Argentina and South Africa seem to suffer under political regimes that sometimes seem more focused on self-enrichment than on developing the countries. However, it is undeniable that there has been tremendous progress over the last few years in South Africa. In Argentina this seems more doubtful. Chile seems to be much more focused on economic development, a strategy that seems to work. The country seems more prosperous.
The wine production in all three countries is similar, in that much of it is fairly young. Youngest of all is South Africa which shows through in that there are more diverse initiatives and more “wild” entrepreneurs here than in the other countries. In Argentina the wine sector seems to suffer somewhat from the country’s economic woes.
Interesting indeed to think about.
Another subject that I find interesting to think about is why some wine countries are popular and others less so.
Since a few years back we do a lot of wine tours in Italy. The tours we do in Italy are regularly sold-out. It is indeed a wonderful country to travel in, with excellent wine and food. (Do take a look at our Italian destinations if you are interested.) Italian wines sell well in many countries.
Spain, on the other hand, is an equally beautiful country with equally good wine and excellent gastronomy. But still, they seem to be struggling on the international wine scene. Why is that?
A few years back we used to do wine tours in Spain but had difficulties in attracting people so it is now a few years since we did a Spanish wine tour. But we have decided to re-launch Spain as a wine travel destination. The coming autumn we will put a tour to Rioja in Spain on the tour program. What do we need to do to make it popular? Revive Spanish wines?
And I don’t even dare to mention France. Although France is the world’s biggest tourist destination they are also struggling on the international wine market. True, French are not very good at marketing their country and their wines, but still!
At least here we are doing something to change the situation. We have just finished the manuscript for our new book. It will be on France and French wines! To be launched later this spring.
Enjoy this month’s Brief!
Britt & Per
PS: Recommend to your friends to read the Brief!
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