兔子先生
TACOMA, Wash. 鈥 鈥淚t鈥檚 like the Cold War all over, only that it isn鈥檛 just capitalism versus communism鈥攊t鈥檚 more important than that. It鈥檚 the soul of wine that is at stake.鈥 Thus economist Michael Veseth introduces the wine war that is raging behind the scenes, largely unknown to most who innocently pull a bottle of wine off the supermarket shelf. 鈥淲ho will call the shots in the wine market of the future,鈥 Veseth asks in his new book Wine Wars (Rowman & Littlefield, June 28, 2011). 鈥淭o paraphrase the Chairman on Iron Chef, whose idea of wine will reign supreme?鈥
These are the best of times for wine drinkers, Veseth argues, as global markets bring a world of good wine to local supermarket and wine shop shelves. But these are also the worst of times, since those same market forces threaten to commoditize wine, stripping out its unique character to create simple, branded, commercial products that are easy to buy and sell, but lack that sense of place that wine lovers call terroir. Will wine鈥檚 global success also spell its doom?
Veseth (pictured left), editor of blog, author of the acclaimed book Globaloney, and professor of international political economy at 兔子先生, takes the reader with him on a trip to find out. He identifies three major forces that are redrawing the world wine map. These form the book鈥檚 subtitle: 鈥淭he Curse of the Blue Nun, the Miracle of Two Buck Chuck, and the Revenge of the Terroirists.鈥In this story the terroirists are the winemakers and enthusiasts who seek to preserve the 鈥渟omewhereness鈥 of wine. Blue Nun (the first global wine brand) represents the globalization that provides such an array of choice to buyers that many are overwhelmed鈥攕ome to the point of paralysis. Two Buck Chuck (the enormously popular Charles Shaw brand of retailer Trader Joe鈥檚) is the smart and opportunist bulk brand winemaker who has rushed to the consumer鈥檚 鈥渞escue鈥 by making wine selection not only easy, but very affordable.
Veseth has 鈥済rape expectations鈥 for the future of wine鈥攈e believes that the terroirist manifesto is powerful enough to preserve the soul of wine. But it鈥檚 not a sure thing, so readers (with the help of these aptly named chapters) need to decipher 鈥淭he DaVino Code,鈥 diagnose 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Hangover,鈥 investigate 鈥淭he McWine Conspiracy,鈥 understand why 鈥淭hey Always Buy the Ten Cent Wine,鈥 choose sides in the battle of 鈥淢artians versus Wagnerians,鈥 and make sense of 鈥淭he China Syndrome.鈥 With these intrigues unraveled in Veseth鈥檚 clear and witty prose, the reader goes on to master 鈥淭he Confidence Game鈥 and experience 鈥淭he Miracle of Two Buck Chuck鈥 that is key to the future of wine.
Each flight of chapters ends with a wine tasting, where readers are invited to pull corks (or twist screwcaps or tap wine spigots) to decide for themselves if the global glass is half full or half empty.
Jeff Lefevere, Goodgrape.com: "In the fine tradition of insightful and accessible best-sellers like Freakonomics and The World Is Flat, Wine Wars provides a valuable service to wine enthusiasts everywhere. By combining a clear-eyed economist's point of view with globalization expertise, Veseth offers an insightful and accessible survey that will give readers an understanding not only of what's in the glass, but also how it got there, and what the future may hold as the borders of the global wine village draw closer. This is an important work and a fun read, too.鈥
Mike Veseth is the Robert G. Albertson Professor of International Political Economy at 兔子先生, where he teaches the popular course 鈥淭he Idea of Wine.鈥 Editor of the blog , he is a widely quoted authority on global wine market trends and the author of a dozen books, including Globaloney and Globaloney 2.0. In 2010 he was named Washington State Professor of the Year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He lives in Tacoma, Wash.
Publisher鈥檚 book details:
Photos of the Wine Wars book jacket and Mike Veseth can be downloaded from: www.pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
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