- Which?, a British consumer publication, has come out with a study saying that more than 25 percent of all the wine sold in the UK comes from 11 major brands – and in almost all cases, a “worryingly high number” of them were below average, poor performers and overpriced.
“Shoppers would get better value and higher quality by looking at less well-known labels,” according to a report by a panel of experts used by Which? to evaluate more than 40 different varieties of wine.
Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?, said, "People often feel that unless they know about wine, it's probably a safer bet to plump for a big name they recognise. The majority of big-brand wines we tasted were mediocre though.”
And Victoria Moore, wine critic for The Guardian, said, "Brands are so successful because they are innocuous, they aren't going to offend. They are created to be easy drinking. For the most part it's Mc-wine produced in vast quantities, on an industrial scale, with the primary aim of being as fruity, bland and as inoffensive as possible.”
- KC's View:
-
Depending on what kind of circulation this study gets in the UK, it could have an interesting impact on consumers’ wine shopping habits.
While we tend not to discriminate against any wine because it comes from a big or a small label, we have to admit that sometimes the pleasure of discovery that comes from tasting a wine from a unknown vineyard is part of the pleasure.
In fact, that pretty much describes the way we feel about tasting any beer or food. The magic of discovery can be enormously satisfying.
