I go to Argentina every year to visit family and it's amazing to see how the wine industry changes and evolves there yearly!!! Especially the last 5 years. I too am very curious to see how Malbec fairs in the next 36 months. I've associated Argentina/Malbec with Australia/shiraz for a while but recently that association has faded somewhat. Most palates…especially mainstream palates seem to be more pleased with the characteristics of Malbec than many other kinds of varietals or so it seems. Consumers in major markets are more informed and consume more wine now than at the time shiraz/australia was the hottest thing. Gary, in my opinion your comments where spot on. Sub regions and brands will have to define more to differentiate and stand apart. Whatever happens, I'm glad Argentina was able to modernize and propel their wine industry in the last decade. Thanks for an interesting episode Gary!

I’ll guess Joel Gott will say something about the wine, yes.

I disagree, I think they are trying to make delicious wine for the price of plonk.

Good stuff. Really good stuff. I dont mind 20+ minutes of conversation when its serious and about “drink”.

Looking forward to part 2.

Not too long ago, Zinfandel was gonna be the “next big thing” in the wine world. I think it still offers better value than Malbec at the low end of the scale. I don't buy much of either one, especially at the low end, because the quality isn't there, but have tasted my share at friends, party's, etc. The success of Yellow Tail shows that there's always going to be a certain number of folks that will chase “whatever everyone else is having” – the rest of us may try something once, but if it ain't good, we won't buy it again. We (“we” meaning those of us without rings in our noses) buy certain wines for the same reason we eat certain foods…we like it. If ENOUGH people don't like something, no marketing will keep it around. Remember the Volkswagon 'Thing?'
P.S. – Almost everyone who posted LIKED this boring episode, yet there is only 137 posts at the present time (4;00AM Central), compared to over 300+ the last few shows. Kinda proves my point. If more shows were like this, Gary might lose the majority of his audience. Now back to Lurkerville…

Business, business, business talk… and I was engrossed in every minute of it! Keep th info coming… but don't forget to finally taste the wine at least by the end of Part 2. Cheers, my friend.

Ha ha ha… I wouldn’t disagree with that. Great line.

I recently watched it too. Although, by the end all they were doing was bashing budweiser; even to point where they were making coors and miller look like the little guy. I thought the most interesting section was about the woman trying to market beer with caffeine in it. All she did was push the idea and label, and complain about budweiser. It never occured to her that the product sucked. I didn’t feel sorry for her. If the movie did one thing well, it showed that with great product and passion for producing it you can take on a giant. Look how successful Dogfish Head has become with little more than word of mouth. Mass marketing be damned. Work hard and make a good product and the money will follow.

I think they are trying to make delicious money at the price of palatable wine.

perhaps a step in the right directions

what I mean is that perhaps these guys are a step in the right direction compared to yellowtail. I’m still skeptical however.

Nah, thats points on Disqus and I have no clue what that can get u or way there is a pointsystem.
This si the faq at Disqus
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@mattgmann Back to the beer wars. bud has pushed every other small beer off the shelves. There is only so much room and they have it. The little guy can’t compete without a chance. Dogfish/Sam Adams are some of the very few exeptions. They are a ruthless monopoly…period.

Interesting biz talk. Argentine malbec is great, but i really hope we will start seeing a more diverse range of qualilty varietals coming from this country so it's image doesn't solely rest upon malbec. Also, I'd be curious to know if these guys see any opportunities in other S.American countries like Uruguay and Brazil?? Saludos!

See you for part two. I support malbec's success but it isn't one of my favorites. I prefer a medium bodied red. Malbec is too heavy for my palate.

lovely tablecoth, very impressive 🙂
by the way good episode

I am transforming into a lurker! haven't commented in 4 episodes, oh oh!

But this one I liked very much; nice guys and you talking about business always makes sense. Can't you combine business and wine more often? Think there's alot of people watching and thinking about future plans in wineworld. Ur the one with expertise, so why don't you share? In every case, I loved the talk about Malbec (also because I completely agree, hehe)

Just my two cents!
Cheers,
Sander

Agreed!

Hopefully you can get a Ben Webster tuning?

ben webster is a little more old school than I play. Although the horn I’m thinking about picking up is a busescher from the late 30’s……

I play mainly with a funk/blues band these days, which is quite a departure from my jazz background, but tons of fun. Think more Lenny Pickett

Yes! guests who are in the wine business! This is what I like to see. I would have preferred it if you tasted a wine, but the banter is great. Maybe when you have guests like this who only have one wine you could open something else to taste with them so you at least taste one wine per segment in these long 2 part episodes. Just a thought. Anyway, I'm enjoying it and I look forward to part 2.

lenny picket= the guy who leads the snl band and plays into the stratosphere

Great, great, great great banter! Great show! For everyone complaining that this business stuff is boring and there were no wines being tasted…drink a tall glass of chill. This episode is now going to be required viewing for my classes, and I'll tell you why: because the trends these guys are talking about will be the stuff showing up on the shelves a year from now, and I want young wine drinkers to understand why end-cap Malbecs may suck at that point, and where/how they should go shopping for the real expressions of the grape and solid value wines.

Its not enough anymore to just be able to identify what Malbec or a Cab or a Chardonnay is…as America's wine thirst and its wine economy expands, we as consumers are going to have to understand how the wine business works so we can avoid flash wine fads and (more importantly) support solid wine producers. If we don't, then we are destined to return to the old dichotomy of all good wine=expensive and all cheaper wine=crap. I certainly don't want the market to go in that direction.

Great insight, love the casual chat format.

And I now have to point out the obvious most awesome part of this episode: this has to be a record episode for the number of d-bags bombs GV dropped. I laugh every time the d-bag smack-down is thrown out, especially when it is used to describe those crap-ass gutter wine producers trying to make a quick buck while destroying palettes nationwide. My fav quote: “a tone of bull crap Malbec” will be on the market next year.

Oh, and the idea for sparkling Torrontes in an old-school glass seltzer bottle dispenser is pure genius. I will pre-order a case today. Those seltzer deals are making a comeback. Probably thanks to Madmen.

True that GLrocks, I have had some bulky bland Malbecs already…but I think GV is arguing that you are going to see a ton more, covering the end caps in Walmarts across the land, and that then way more people will try Malbecs for the first time, and think it sucks ass hair. Tsk Tsk, this cycle is probably the fate of all varieties at some point.
Tool Academy 4? damn I choked on that one.

Points all taken Jacaranda. The Europeans already have their systems straight, but of course a lot of their labeling leaves many Americans confused…which is why the Frenchies in particular having been losing market share big time. And that’s what I have a passion for: educating consumers so that they know what they are getting into.

I guess that’s why I still like the idea of a world-wide minimum standard of labeling. Even as someone who knows a little about wine, I would like to be forewarned if the bottle has been made by a bulk blender….not so much that I would instantaneously diss it, but so that I would at least be aware. Hell, some bulk blenders do a fine job. Okay, maybe more like a few.

Funniest thing… The Like-button was back….. I then pushed it…. and then it disappeared again. Mystical. HaHaHa! Poor, if you ask me!