Wine & Watches

In response to the in-class question about whether we thought technology like Fruition Sciences would become ubiquitous in the wine industry.  Here’s why I don’t think it will:

At its purest, a watch is a time-keeping instrument.  So accuracy should be the primary purchase criteria, yes?  Well, no: accuracy is important, but the aesthetic, brand, company history, and individual story of the watch all matter.  You don’t hear too many people bragging about their $15 Timex Ironman, even though it’s more correct than the Tag on the next person’s wrist. 

In 1969, Seiko introduced the first watch with a quartz movement. Many others soon followed. Quartz is more accurate and more efficient (doesn’t have to be manually wound) than a mechanical watch.  Quartz movements are also far less expensive because they don’t require dozens of tiny gears to be fitted together by an elderly Swiss gentleman in a Geneva basement.

The result was the “quartz crisis,” which put incredible pressure on the previously unchallenged Swiss mechanical watch industry.  Many companies went out of business, but the Rolex, Patek Philippes, and A. Lange & Söhnes of the world continued to build high-end, hand-made mechanical watches.  And nowadays they are more popular than ever.

Now, substitute taste for accuracy, and I’d argue the same will happen in wine: large-scale wineries will bring in technology to drive up yield, optimize taste, and create efficiencies. The result will be better tasting wine for cheaper prices. But there will continue to be purist winemakers who insist on producing wine by intuition and feel and decades of tradition, regardless of efficiency or cost.  

And luxury watch-wearing consumers there to buy it.