I've come to this conclusion by looking at where the wine industry spends the majority of their advertising budget: in wine industry "trade" magazines, like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. Let's face it. If they don't advertise with these magazines there's a good chance their wines won't get reviewed. Call it what you will but that's the way it works. So the wine industry shells-out tens of millions of dollars every year to get their wines tasted and, hopefully, to get that precious rating of "92" (or whatever). Why? So they can turn around and wave it under a distributor's nose to get them to carry that wine. And, subsequently, the distributor can then turn around and wave that same score under a retailer's or restaurateur's nose to get them to carry it. Sounds pretty good in theory. Everyone's buying it. Everyone except the consumer, that is.

Let's segue for a second to some facts and figures. According the Wine Market Council, there are roughly 84 million people (mostly between the ages of 35 to 59 years-old) in this country that drink wine on a monthly basis. Some more than others. The largest wine magazine (a trade magazine) has a circulation of about 200,000. So, if you do the math, a "92" rating from this or any other wine magazine has meaning to about .002 percent of the American wine buying public. And don't forget, the majority of these 200,000 "monthly" consumers are wine industry employees. So we have the majority of wine advertising dollars being spent on reaching a small minority of wine buyers.

Now, I know this sounds like a column for the trade only. But bare with me. This is really about what we, as consumers, can do to get the industry to focus their attention on us instead of themselves.

I think it's safe to say that the majority of wine consumers in this country simply want something that tastes good. They want a reliable brand name and product that they can count on time after time when searching through the seemingly endless row of bottles on retail shelves. And I think it's also safe to say that the vast majority of consumers in this country are not going to buy a wine because some wine critic who they don't know in some wine magazine that they don't read gave it some number they don't understand. Sure, some will. But "some" doesn't support the wine industry.

The only way for a consumer product to be successful is for it to end up in consumer's hands. It has to trickle all the way down. And in order for this to happen the consumer needs to feel comfortable with the product. If they don't -- if they can't relate to industry-supported propaganda -- then the trickling stops short. And back-up inevitably begins.

Fortunately, the current market for wine is good. The economy is strong, crop yields in the past few years have been low (less wine + more demand = good), Baby Boomers and beyond are still consuming the majority of wine, new vineyard plantings haven't begun producing yet, so there's a demand for wine. Unfortunately, the economy is strong, crop yields the past few years has been low, Baby Boomers and beyond are still consuming the majority of wine, new plantings haven't begun producing yet, so there's a demand for wine. I know you think I just repeated myself, but here's the skinny:

It's estimated that at the turn of the century there will be twice as much (read: 100 percent more) juice on the market in California than there was in 1997 -- coming from new plantings and replanted phylloxera-devestated vineyards. In a couple years, the 50-year-old plus wine consumer -- the demographic who purchases the majority of wine in this country -- will probably start purchasing less, for reasons of health, limited retirement income, or simply because they've been stockpiling (collecting) wine for years and are now going to drink it. And, as we all know, the economy isn't going to stay this strong forever. Since wine is considered a luxury item in this country, it'll be one of the first "luxuries" to get shoved to the back of the priority list when the market takes a dive.

On several occasions I've had the opportunity to address the industry at symposiums and conferences. The message I deliver is this: unless the wine industry stops preaching to the choir, its doomed. You can't create a country club, close its doors to membership and expect to go on forever. You must continually explore new markets and target new generations in order to secure a future. It's really a very simple concept to understand. Instead of everyone fighting to steal a slightly bigger slice of a shrinking wine consumer pie, why not simply bake more pies? Makes sense, right?

Well, not to the wine industry. It seems to escape its marketing logic. Probably because it's been delivered by some young, upstart publisher who doesn't understand the intricacies and complexities of wine marketing. (I guess there's more to it than having your product end-up in consumers' hands.) So here's the idea: since they don't seem to be listening to me, maybe they'll listen to you. As consumers, start putting a collective pressure on the wine industry to begin listening to you, and stop stroking the two or three wine critics that control what inevitably ends up on your local retail shelves. Start voicing the opinion that you don't care what the hell the wine went through on it's "special" journey to the bottle. You only care how it tastes after it's there. And try to make the wine industry understand that it needs to start building product and brand loyalty with you over the next two years -- the time required for a consumer advertising campaign to truly be effective -- now, by advertising in consumer (not trade) magazines. Because if they don't, if they continue to preach to the choir, all their "92"s and gold medals and ego-stroking "editor's choices" will mean diddly, because there won't be anyone left who cares.