CONCLUSIONS III WORLD RIOJA WINE FORUM III MILLENNIUM

The third edition of the World Wine Forum was held in the region of La Rioja, with mass attendance by sector professionals from all fields, including producers, researchers, winemakers, distributors and administrative staff. Debate has been broad and rich, and has demonstrated the diversity of production strategies. However, in the following conclusions, we aim to summarise the most important aspects examined. All the papers and round tables will feature in a later publication.

1. There are opportunities to improve crop-growing conditions, which may result in lower production costs at no detriment whatsoever to quality. The introduction of new vine systems, such as the cordon, the double curtain or the free cordon, may allow mechanised pruning and better use of each and every one of the opportunities offered by the environment in which the crop is grown.

2. The base and foundation of quality winegrowing must lie on adaptation to and respect for the environment. We must adapt every aspect of the crop, from the use of the area’s traditional varieties, of other varieties which make the best use possible of the opportunities afforded by the soil, the climate and the environment, to crop-growing systems, including mechanisation, which adapt to and are compatible with the geophysical medium in which they grow.

3. The different oenological practices, based on different conceptions of the use of technology, must always have a common aim: the quality of the products obtained and the adaptation of the wines made to the consumer’s demands for quality.

4. As an exclusively technological base, any of the oenological practices that show absolute respect for the health and safety of consumers may be ethically acceptable.

In this sense, emerging countries have a strong competitive advantage due to their rapid adaptation to the results of innovation.

5. Ethically correct oenological practices include those which do not imply health risks, those which do not produce confusion in the consumer and those which respect a minimum, non-variable composition of what we understand as wine, together with those which do not lead to unfair competition.

6. The application of technology to winemaking may afford significant commercial benefits when the products are for certain consumer sectors. This is due to the existence of what we might call the sophisticated consumer, who would be prepared to pay more for certain quality levels generated on the basis of certain technology.

7. If we misunderstand tradition, it can become our enemy. Know-how that has been handed down through generations is not the same as stubbornly upholding poor practices simply because they have always been so. We must maintain the good aspects of our traditional heritage and know-how and incorporate the technological advances that help us to produce greater and better quality.

8. What we might call a balanced viticulture appears, at first glance, as the best vine condition. Consequently, research into our knowledge of the varieties and their genetic diversity, the soil, production factors, plantation densities, the climate, etc. is the road that will take us as near as possible to that ideal condition, which, in turn, will produce better grapes for better wine.

9. The sensory analysis should not be limited to tasting by experts, who can only give us a reference point as to what wine experts think about the product they have tasted. This will lead us to losing the reference point as to what consumers think and feel and, when all is said and done, they are the true final consumers of the wine business. It would appear, then, that we should set up wine tasting or sensory analyses systems that reach consumers. This would give us a real connection between the different departments of the wine company with the tastes of the consumer and make it possible to develop more clearly and decidedly wines that will be appreciated by the client. It would be possible to set up strategic sensory research systems for the development of new products, the identification of trends and possible business improvement opportunities.

10. As a possible internal or external complement to a panel of wine tasters, new opportunities arise with the development of instruments such as electronic noses, which do not seek to replace human sensory analysis but act as an ideal supplement. Recent progress has aroused great expectations with regard to equipping companies with useful and practical tools in this area. The next step must be along the lines of taste and colour analysis.

11. Wine should look to the example of commercial development in the advertising of other products, such as beer, which on a more or less common base, has achieved an important position among consumers all over the world.. Wine advertising and promotion campaigns should be revised and the image offered of this product must change. Labels, lettering, colours, presentations, brand names, etc. must be adapted to reach the consumer in a more straightforward and direct way.

12. The size and the distribution around many small wineries should not be a hurdle for product recognition or for a brand name to be highly appreciated. Not all brands need to have a wide distribution, although those that do should also receive said recognition. Market prestige and consumer appreciation should be attainable by smaller brand names, whose products may be valued more positively with appropriate advertising campaigns. Clear examples of this can be seen in the world of fashion (Armani or Bvlgari).

13. Advertising and communication should be turned towards other image formulas with more impact, such as humour or youth. We cannot continue with the image of the bottle covered in a spider’s web as the basic symbol of wine in an attempt to refer to something that is old or traditional. There are many more attractive ways of reaching the consumer without giving up the connection with culture or age-old tradition.

14. Advertising, communication and marketing should work together to create the image of a brand in accord with what is to be sold and to whom. This means we must make the most of both our economic resources and imagination and learn from the proven success of campaigns carried out in other sectors both within and beyond our borders. In communication, wine can and should be treated as any other product, bearing in mind its particularities. Simplicity is the best creative road for communication regarding wine and, in this sense, the American saying “less is more” should be our key.

15. Europe must make the most of its opportunities and, as such, it must compete against new producers using the same weapons: quality and price. But it must also make use of something that new wine-producing countries cannot offer: tradition, history and culture. We must guarantee a successful venture onto medium and low range markets and to do this, we need to revise the regulations applicable to these types of wine and make them more flexible.

16. We cannot consider wine as an alcoholic product, but rather as part of our cultural and traditional heritage which, among other things, contains alcohol. We are aware, and this is something we need to tell society as a whole, that wine is a basic component of our diet and that the responsible consumption of wine is good for health and does not lead to alcoholism. Consequently, it should not be treated in the same way as drugs or other non-traditional drinks with high alcohol content.

17. We have everything required to compete with new wine producing countries and succeed on all markets. We have sufficient quality, as can be seen in the proven increase in the quality of our products over the last 25 years. All we need to do is to bring together the interests of the different sub-sectors and allow ourselves to be led by the hand of production and commercialisation. For this, a national framework agreement signed by all those involved in the winegrowing world is an urgent need. Said framework agreement could be drawn up as a Spanish Strategic Plan, as long as it were accepted and endorsed by the majority.

18. As a product with rural connections and as a base for food, gastronomy, culture and European tradition, the tax applicable to wine should be different from other products. The non-consideration of wine as an alcoholic product is a fundamental base for its consideration as different and far-removed from other drinks. For tax purposes, the application of a 0 rate excise duty would be considered as the most correct formula. Furthermore, it is considered that said 0 rate excise duty should be applied in each and every member state in the search for taxation consistency among all the countries in the European Union.

19. Competition from the companies in emerging countries should serve as a lesson to modernise the business structures of Europe and reposition our products on world markets. There is no use in complaining about their supposed winemaking and oenological advantages. Instead, we must reconsider our production and commercial strategies. We must study options such as the concentration of distribution and avoid sharp changes in prices, raw material and finished product. We must show sufficient skill as to anticipate market circumstances in order to consider the strategies required and adopt the necessary measures so as to avoid any great variation.

20. There are different winemaking models in the world and all of them are considered valid as long as they are based on the search for product quality and show scrupulous respect for health. The traditional European model continues to be valid as long as we do not insist beyond reason on using age-old systems and methods and incorporate the required technologies and strategic and regulatory mechanisms of the future to bring about an increase in quality at the same time as respecting tradition and the connection to the rural environment of Europe.

21. The preparation of a Spanish Strategic Plan integrated in a future European Strategic Plan arises as a need for analysing the starting circumstances of our productions. It must also study the possibilities of structuring the sectors and developing the means required for regaining moral leadership at world level.