Category: Hospitality

I’m Living in France – and Drinking Less Wine Than Ever

I’ve been in the south France for nearly a month and I’ll be here off and on through the end of April finishing my dual master’s degree in Global Luxury Management. You’d think while I’ve been here that I would have had more than my fair share of wine already, right? Wrong. In fact, I’ve enjoyed less wine here than I did at any time in the states.

So, what gives? There are some cultural differences in the retailing of wine here, especially in restaurants and bars, but the real reason I’ve consumed so much less wine is the very sub-par selection of wines by the glass at restaurants and bars. I really had hoped before venturing here that I would be outside of my United States comfort zone of wines available and trying a greater variety of European wines that haven’t made their way stateside, but when you’re out and about here, the by-the-glass selections are as follows: “red”, “rose”, and “white”. No kidding! You’re lucky if the menu includes any details about the by-the-glass varietal or the geographic source.

Perhaps this recent experience is why this article struck me so strongly today: Millennials dragging wine sales down – and the prudent included advice:

“One way to sell Millennials more wine: Carefully curate your wine-by-the-glass list to boost its appeal to this demographic.”

I think it’s a great read for restaurant, nightlife, and hospitality operators everywhere – regardless of geographic location.

Don’t get me wrong – the wine selection at retail points of sale and by the bottle in restaurants are pretty wide and adventurous here in France (and aggressively priced since most are domestic products) – but I rarely desire an entire bottle in one seating and when I want just a glass, I don’t want a mediocre glass of “house wine” that was selected for a profit margin rather than to complement menu offerings.

Ending on a positive note: the retail store wine scene is in much better shape offering a really nice selection with incredibly high-quality and great tasting wines beginning at 8 euros (about $9 USD) a bottle, so I’ve had fun with that! I mean – a girl’s still got to have her wine, right? (Especially when there is no craft cocktail culture here… but more on that later.)

I’m a Starwoods Faithful

There’s something about brand loyalty – it gets in your veins – the very DNA of how luxury consumers consume. And when you find out one of your beloved brands is going to be absorbed by a larger in the industry? Talk about a gut punch.

SPG Love
SPG Love

“Somewhere between their Westin Heavenly Beds and the room’s rainfall shower system, Starwood hotel loyalists were struck Monday morning by a new reality: their beloved loyalty program would soon be gobbled up by Marriott’s less-generous reward system.” – via NewsObserver.com

My other half texted me a link to the story as it broke this morning, knowing good and well that I would simply scrunch up my nose in disgust. I would love to think that the Starwoods identify might be preserved in this merger, but luxury travelers will have to wait to see what happens in the years after the deal’s expected closing in mid-2016. Luckily, this industry tends to move slowly, so it could be years before we see any real changes to the SPG treatment we Starwoods faithfuls have grown to love.