Grapevine: The Predictable Yet Nuanced American Wine Palate

What are Americans drinking? How much are Americans drinking?

These are subjects I’ve explored on numerous occasions with readers. And each year the dynamics change. As the availability of international wines increases in the United States, and as Americans’ palates and wallets expand, the breadth and depth of wine sales has steadily evolved over the last 10-plus years.

What has become evident is that we have gained international prominence in the international wine market. To wit:

• American consumers can now lay claim to the highest overall wine consumption in the world.
• We consume more wine than ever, 13 bottles per year. That’s more than one glass every week per every man, woman and child.
• Our 21st century palates now dictate the style of wine being produced, here in the United States and in the premier wine regions of the world, including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piedmont and Tuscany.

Industry surveys track what American consumers are purchasing for home consumption: big, fruit-forward wines with mild tannins and moderate acidity.

Very few surveys track our purchasing habits away from home. Are we enjoying the same wines in restaurants? Do we differentiate when we dine out?

Anecdotal information would indicate that we do. Outside our homes, we tend to be more adventurous, taking risks we otherwise would avoid. This creates an anomaly of sorts, which I never understood. Why take a chance on an unknown wine, recommended by an unknown sommelier? However, this is precisely what is occurring  in many American restaurants today.

Or so it seems.

While a good number of us are willing to consider a restaurant experience as a lab experiment, most stick to a comfort zone honed from past restaurant experiences. And we compartmentalize.

With the rise of multicultural menus at restaurants, where ingredients dictate the offerings, not ethnicity, the wine selection rules are without borders. Eclectic rules; obscure reigns supreme. The new generation of sommeliers has partnered with executive chefs to compose wine lists that explore new possibilities in pairing food and wine.

These young, highly trained “somms” are just as anxious to explore the nooks and crannies of wine regions as diners are to engage them as virtual tour guides in search of their next favorite wine.

An annual survey of the top 50 wines sold at restaurants in the fourth quarter of 2014 is revealing. Wine & Spirits magazine recently polled 242 Zagat-rated restaurants in the United States for their 10 best-selling wines.

Herewith, several highlights from the Wine & Spirits 26th  annual survey:

• The top wine 10 years ago garnered 19.3 percent of all votes. This year, a different wine won top honors with only 7.8 percent of all votes. The obvious implication is that diners are ordering greater numbers of wines than ever before. Diversity is the new dining mindset.
• A new trend is to enjoy champagne with dinner. And different styles of champagne with each course, from lighter to more robust, from sweeter to drier, from creamier texture to acidic mouth-feel.
• Fully 80 percent of the top 50 restaurant wines are produced in America. Across the full spectrum of the hundreds of wines ordered, 46 percent were American, 22 percent French and 18 percent Italian.
• The most popular grapes were Cabernet Sauvignon (16.6 percent of all wines ordered, an increase from 2010), Pinot Noir (14.5 percent, similar to 2010) and Chardonnay (11.4 percent, down significantly from 2010).
• The Top 10 selling wines were:

1. Jordan Vineyard & Winery
2. Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars
3. Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards
4. Duckhorn Vineyards
5. Cakebread Cellars
6. Caymus Vineyards
7. Silver Oak Wine Cellars
8. Kistler Vineyards
9. Veuve Clicquot
10. Chateau Ste. Michelle

Are you at the vanguard of today’s winea scene? As a consumer in the wine capital of the world, trust your globally-trained palate. Be adventurous as you search for your next favorite wine, be it at a wine shop or restaurant.

Nick Antonaccio is a 35 year Pleasantville resident. For over 15 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.

Nick Antonaccio