How Do You Detect All Those Notes With Your Nose So High In The Air?

Last week, the biggest story on wine blogs and forums was this story about Costco's wine buyer, Annette Alvarez-Peters.  Most of the tone of commentary was similar to Eater's, with no-one really defending Alvarez-Peters.  But, I watched the video and thought: "so what?"

Well, the what appears to be in the details of Ms. Alvarez-Peters' background.  You see, she is not one of them.  She is not a Cordon Bleu trained chef or Sommelier; or from a wine making family with roots in the industry; or from a small boutique retailer.  She does not speak of nuances and notes and tannins like the other wine experts.  She doesn't know, or at least they assume she doesn't know, what goes with foie gras or Mahi Mahi or white truffles.  My God! She probably couldn't even tell you the difference between American Oak and French, that bitch!  No, Alvarez-Peters has the audacity to be trained in retail purchasing.  And worse, bulk retail purchasing. I mean, they only mark up their products 15 percent.  Quick, somebody tweet David Chang!

Oh no, she is not part of the wine industry - and I do not speak here of the grape growers and wine makers but, rather, the whole industry of "experts": restauranteurs and retailers who have made a fortune on the backs of those who make wine.  This is a group of people who believe that they are endowed with genetically superior palates and only through years of training and suffering for their art have they been able to detect the subtle differences between appellations.  Who am kidding?  They can even detect differences between one clos and another, one year and another, probably even when a winery changes bottle suppliers. Yes, unless you have memorized every wine ever made, every chateau, every region, every varietal, every vintage, every wine maker, you will never be able to decide for yourself whether something is "delicious" or not and will always need the guidance of the wine Jedi.

I watched the video and thought to myself, for I dare not think these things out loud, that I like Alvarez-Peters!  I admire that she has worked her way up through the company to be in charge of what might be the most prestigious part of Costco's business.  I liked her reply when she was called the most powerful buyer in the industry: " I am an employee of Costco"  which is the point.  Her job is to find products that she believes will be most appreciated by her company's customers, not to perpetuate a myth or save a floundering winery.  And, she is right when she says: "in the end it is just a beverage".  Why is this so offensive a statement?  Oh right, because you are supposed to have a magical, transcendental experience with wine.  Right, I forgot.  It's like drinking wine should be the same kind of miracle as when Jesus turned water into wine - which, of course, it is: in that neither ever happened.

But, snobbery aside, there is one other thing that bothers me about the criticism of Alvarez-Peters and that is the assumption that she could not have taken enough training to be able to know as much as she needs to about wine to purchase it (by the way, she has).  In other words, unless you have taken all the proper classes and attended all the right schools and interned at all the right restaurants and wineries, you have no business speaking about food or, especially wine.  A friend of mine is a professional photographer who laments that every computer geek with Photoshop and a digital camera thinks he is a professional photographer.  That, of course, does not make them professionals, but a lack of professional credentials does not mean they can't take an excellent picture, even one that is considered art.  A professional credential just gives you the assurance that this person should have some knowledge about what they are doing and should offer some guarantee to protect your purchase.  As we all know, no such assurances exist in any profession.  For Costco, the credentials that Alvarez-Peters brings as a retail buyer are of greater importance than her wine expertise (which can be learned) and wine experts probably do not make the best retail buyers (which also can be learned).

I have never taken a cooking course in my life other than two weeks of home-economics in grades seven and eight.  I like my food and others have told me they like my food.  I have never taken a nutrition course, yet I know the supposed basic principles of proper nutrition even if I refuse to follow them.  I know how almost every kitchen gadget in the world works, my knife skills I would pit against many professional cooks, I design my own recipes and alter others.  I can substitute ingredients, estimate weights and measures, and tell when something needs more seasoning or time cooking.  Would I hire me as a professional cook? No, my plating sucks and I don't know enough about how professional kitchens function.  But, I can tell the difference between good food and bad, good wine and bad, and a good time and bad.  I think, with my life experiences, I could run a produce department, butcher shop or other food/beverage retail business.  But, I wouldn't expect to be hired by anyone directly to the position of president.  Alvarez-Peters has done no less in her career, from my perspective.

By far, the tag line that got the most headlines from the video was "surely it's different from toilet paper?"  "Why?" she responds.  One comment I read stated: "I have never heard such a stupid statement, even from a corporate zipperhead. Does any restaurant say that it is just a plate of food? Or a car company say it is just transportation."  Well, no! And no wine maker is saying it either.  Alvarez-Peters is a retailer of wine.  If she sold Toyotas and suddenly had to sell yellow school buses, I am sure she would approach it from the perspective of "they're just motorized transportation."  Which is the sign of all good salespersons.  It is not a retailer's responsibility to design a product's marketing plan.  If it were, manufacturers would not employ marketing departments.  A retailer has the task of knowing how their customers respond to the products they offer and ensuring they are presented accordingly.  Everyone with a Costco membership, myself included, understands that, because we have seen some items sold in one location not sold in others.

At the end of the day, Alvarez-Peters is paid to look out for the best interests of Costco and its members.  If the wine establishment doesn't like their approach they can stop selling them wine, stop inviting them to tastings, stop purchasing them at their stores, etc.  I have many hobbies and wine is just one of them.  I live in a part of the world where wine sales and prices are strictly controlled by the state, along with all alcohol.  In fact, other than the producers, the state is the only authorized retailer of alcohol.  The LCBO receives much of the same criticism that Costco receives in the U.S. This does not keep me from seeking out independent producers in Ontario and, in fact, has encouraged me to find yet another hobby: touring Ontario wine regions.

I don't buy the argument that Costco's format is an independent killer.  With a little creativity on the part of the Ontario government, Costco, and the independent Ontario wineries, Costco could help put more of their wine on the tables of Ontario wine drinkers.  This might not be a good thing for smaller independent retailers (though not a concern in Ontario for alcohol, anyway) but, where does it say in the laws of capitalism, that I am indebted to those retailers and must pay to support their accustomed lifestyle?  Not many of them feel badly that the industry I work in is dying, in fact their association has made it clear they don't care much about the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed.  I can only wish that Costco were allowed to sell wine in Ontario, my declining purchasing power is making this a hobby that I may not be able to support, and I can not see how that is good for any industry in this economy.