McDonald’s of wine
Whether or not you eat McDonald’s hamburgers, you at least know what one is. And you are aware of their ubiquity in any major city and in most small towns. It is a brand like no other.
The same could be said for any large burger chain; Wendy’s, Burger King, In and Out, Shake Shack. They all have loyal followings because each burger made there is different from the others. Yet they are still hamburgers. Year after year, you can rely on what is on offer.
Long term success of such large brands hinge on consistency. Consumers come to expect it and are shocked, and sometimes appalled, when there is a change. Remember New Coke?
The same is true in the world of wine. The next time you’re at the LCBO and encounter a wall of choice, do you stick with the same brand, or do you venture out and try something new? Is the something new the same grape from a different brand? Oyster Bay for Kim Crawford. Or is it J. Lohr instead of Tom Gore tonight? That would be akin to having Wendy’s instead of McDonald’s.
Whatever the case, these wines have their place. They are brands that are familiar and reliably consistent. There are good reasons why they are among the top 10 selling wines at the LCBO.
These wines, like their burger equivalents, are formulaic and full of unsavoury additives and preservatives to maintain “freshness”. Specific yeast strains are added to provide desired flavours and aromas. And/or even artificial flavours, such as vanilla and liquid smoke. Powdered tannins, or sometimes colouring is added. Sugar or acids too. All in the name of consistency.
The sheer volume of these wines is hard to imagine and the allowance of blending so much wine, though beneficial to maintaining a brand, is in direct contrast to the small farm with a few acres of vines makes hand crafted wines. Where each vintage is different from the last, often with only a few hundred bottles produced each year.
These are the wines that excite. These are the wines that tell a story of the year the grapes were grown. They tell a story of the person who made it. They tell a story and hold it in a bottle until it is opened and ready to be shared. Maybe around a campfire, or a table, with family and friends.
These wines are not the McDonald’s of wines. These are the wines on par with the small bistro on the corner in your favourite city that makes a hamburger from scratch each day, grinding their own meat, seasoning to taste. Maybe they make their own buns and pickles or grow their own lettuce. It is still a hamburger, but a very different one by any common metric.
Many of the wines in Prince Edward County don’t rely on a recipe like the large scale brands that rely on constancy. The people making wines here, and any other small scale operation, thrive on the differences unique to each vintage. They look to capture in the bottle what happened that summer and are forever eager to tell you about it.
These wines are not made in a laboratory. They are made in the vineyard. And like any story, are meant to shared.