Michelin launches wine guide: starred wineries

The news of recent times in the wine world is that of Michelin’s descent into the field.
The “redhead” will publish a wine guide, using its well-known “stars,” but not rating individual wines, but rather wineries. They will be “starred” in the same way that restaurants are, rating them with zero, one, two or three stars, while individual wines will be considered like dishes in the restaurant guide.

Stars in wine: a story from afar

I would then add that Michelin, which was definitely the first to use star rating for restaurants, is not at all for wines.
Veronelli began in the 1960s with the Bolaffi Catalogue of the Wines of Italy, where stars were used on wines.
Continued Gambero Rosso and Slow Food on Wines of Italy, where for every ten “three glasses” a star was awarded to the winery this time.

Even DoctorWine for the past twelve years has been using stars in exactly the way Michelin will do, awarding “three stars” to wineries and not to wines, rated in cents and “veneers.”

A possible “pre-use” conflict?

What will the “redhead” do in the presence of a kind of “pre-use right”?
Will you open litigation or, more appropriately, pay no attention?
Certainly DoctorWine’s Three Stars has been around for a long time and may even become a publication, who knows.

What role will The Wine Advocate?

Then, Michelin had not taken over The Wine Advocate by Robert Parker? What role will that publication play in the future? Of course, it is a newsletter and not a guide, however, always wine is being talked about and always Michelin is the publisher.
We shall see in this case, too, evidently.

Michelin-starred wineries are wineries rated using a star system, similar to that used for restaurants. The guide assigns zero to three stars to wineries, considering the overall quality of production and not individual wines.

How the Michelin-starred winery system works:

1. Stars are awarded to wineries, not individual wines.
2. The rating ranges from zero to three stars.
3. Wines are examined as part of the winery’s overall production.
4. The goal is to make a judgment about the overall level of the company.

What does Michelin rate in wineries?

Consider the overall quality of production, the consistency of the wines, and the winery’s ability to maintain high standards over time.

Why does Michelin award stars to wineries and not to wines?

Because the focus of the guide is on the overall level of the company, similar to the approach used for restaurants.

Is it possible for a large company to be penalized?

Yes, because a very large production sometimes includes ranges intended for less prestigious segments, making it more difficult to achieve the highest score.

Is Michelin the first to apply stars to wine?

No. Stars were used as early as the 1960s by Veronelli and more recently by others such as DoctorWine.

Of course, analyses done by the span are as valuable as they are. But Those five issues I listed in the previous editorial are on the table with their full weight.

Someone pointed out to me that not much has changed in the new highway code. Controls have increased by 23 percent and penalties have been tightened, however. People are frightened, wine consumption has plummeted in restaurants, and anyway, the message is clear and the combination as well.

Wine is bad for you, in whatever quantity you take it, the production is not very transparent, if you drink one more glass and drive you risk heavy penalties. This is happening. Then, it is true, the greatly increased prices discourage. Also, when I consume something that tends to be superfluous, which I could also do without, in whole or in part, I have to have a motivation to purchase. If the reasons for not buying become preponderant, that’s it.

If wine no longer has a positive image, costs too much, even hurts, its production does not appear eco-sustainable, and appellations are clowns, why should I buy it? An argument cut a bit with a hatchet, but one that makes the point.

It is important to understand the context

Then, you also have to put this into context. One fact: more than 70 percent of wine, in Italy, is sold through the various channels of the Large-scale retail trade. Horeca represents, more or less, a quarter of the market. Everyone talks about the mark-ups operated in the restaurant industry, which have increased, sometimes little understood.

It would also be necessary to see what happens in the supermarkets, where wine sells in much larger quantities and where “normal” people, the non-enthusiasts, make their purchases. Because they make the market, not us.

But let’s give some practical advice.

To restaurateurs:

Around the world I have also seen other ways to operate mark-ups. A fixed figure, maybe with two or three brackets, not tied to percentages. Because, if you top up with those, price increases at origin make prices fly, especially for high-end wines.

For producers:

I understand that price increases due to the factors we know, glass, caps, packaging, transportation, fertilizer, low-production years like 2023, have had a heavy effect on production costs. However, if you just raise prices this does not work on the public. You have to communicate, and if this is not done, the image of wine will wobble, and in medium times there will be even more problems for sales and exports.

Then, in a couple of years, there will be stronger competition from dealcoholic wines. For now the “Maginot line” is represented by the fact that they cannot be made with Doc and Docg wines, but for how long? I would like to see a clearer strategy from consortia, representative bodies such as Federdoc, Italian Wine Union, Federvini, Confagricoltura and also Fivi.

One will have to make momentous decisions in the wine world in the near future, I would like to know what are the concrete proposals, beyond the usual minuets.

For consumers:

When you go out and about equip yourself with a portable breathalyzer. It costs about 30 euros. It will give you the confidence to drive. The level of alcohol intake is different from person to person. Some people reach the 0.5 mg threshold with a couple of drinks and those who are under that limit with twice that amount.

Then, begin to probe less famous areas, which often offer excellent wines at lower prices than those produced in the “golden vineyards” of some Italian regions. Or, as they do in many countries where you really can’t drink if you drive, let’s get used to a friend, in turn, not drinking and being able to drive everyone home by driving him. Trivialities, of course, but very common outside Italy.

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The second installment ends here, with the knowledge that we have only touched on such a complex topic And that I don’t have a magic wand to change things. Maybe there will be a third one.