FOCUS – “THE WORLD OF WINE IN HIGH LEVEL RESTAURANTS”. THE OSSERVATORIO S. PELLEGRINO STUDIES THE TRENDS AND STYLES THAT EMERGE FROM THE MOST IMPORTANT RESTAURANTS ON THE FIVE CONTINENTS

The international Osservatorio S. Pellegrino is the first research center dedicated to studying the trends and lifestyles that emerge from the most important and exclusive restaurants in the world. The goal of the study is to reveal the “coolest” emerging trends according to the lifestyles of the stars at the dinner table.

The latest study by the observatory, realized in collaboration with the research institute, EtaMeta Research, has taken a look at “the scene in high level restaurants on the five continents”. It is an international study divided into four parts, with the goal of delineating trends, future scenes and relations that exist between food, wine, water and the local culture, and within the processes of globalization, innovation, and experimentation.

The first part of the study, completed at the beginning of 2006, covers the characteristics of what is offered in top restaurants, the expectations and needs of clients and the new orientations of high level restaurants towards tradition and innovation. The second part (whose pivotal points are listed below), identifies the new tendencies in the enological sector from the point of view of consumer behavior and the evolution of tastes, the wine-food combination, as well as tasting combinations with mineral waters.

To trace the movements of the wine sector and its interactions with high level restaurants, the study took into consideration the views of the market’s protagonists, interviewing 252 chefs and restaurant owners noted in the most prestigious guides of the sector, 159 professional sommelier and ASI students, and 119 wine producers in Europe and the rest of the world. The study also offers a particularly large and articulated panorama of the points of view of journalists, experts, chefs, sommelier, and other sector operators, thanks to a monitoring of official restaurant web sites, sites dedicated to the wine world, and articles that have appeared in major newspapers and magazines around the world.

The European wine aristocracy in difficulty

60% of the world’s wine production is concentrated in Europe, with France in first place, followed by Italy, and then Spain at a distant third. The world wine market is dominated by France, Italy, and the U.S., followed, surprisingly, by Australia, and is evidence that there has been a large increase in global wine consumption over the last decade, accompanied, however, by a decrease in European countries, which are also those that boast of their long tradition in wine production.

On the export front, France and Italy are now making headway in the competition for Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot, and Syrah, which largely come from emerging countries (Australia, California, Chile, South Africa, and New Zealand). The smooth flavors and easy drinkability of “New World” wines, in fact, seem to be more successful with the international masses than the more complex, acid, and pronounced tannic flavors of the great French and Italian wines.

Consumer preferences

Consumers today are decidedly more informed, demanding, and curious in respect to the past. There is still a sort of faithfulness to local and national labels, counterbalanced, however, by a growing interest in international varieties. On the list of preferences, still wines are largely chosen (78.4%) over sparkling wines like spumante and champagne (23.4%). Red wines dominate (76.9%) over whites (25.3%), and leaving rosé wines only a small residual (2.9%).

Restaurant preferences

Wine, together with water, still remains the preferred drink at restaurants. Still, alternative drinks like tea, beer, sake, and soft drinks are beginning to take a firm hold at high level restaurants. 91.8% of drink choose wine, followed by those who dine with water (89.7%), distilled drinks, spirits, and digestives (16.1%), tea (10.8%), soft drinks (10.8%), herbal teas (6.7%), and, finally, beer (6.3%)

Increased importance of water

In recent years, bottled mineral water has followed a path of appreciation and qualification, similar to that of wine. Clients are becoming aware of the fact that the differences among various mineral waters cannot be reduced to a simple distinction between carbonated and still, but that each label corresponds to particular organoleptic characteristics. A widespread sensibility has developed for taste (67.6%), and the elements of guarantee on labels (49.3%). San Pellegrino holds first place in terms of notoriety (92.3%) and in terms of penetration into the international restaurant market (58.5%).

The quest for new combinations of food and wine
Water, food, and wine represent the three pillars of every meal, and it is indispensable that a perfect harmony reigns among the three. The fundamental rule for reaching this harmony is that neither aroma nor flavor of one of the three elements prevails over the others.

New ways of offering and serving wine in restaurants
The wine connoisseur now prefers a tasting within the surroundings of a restaurant, where a superb chef is capable of bringing out the “special” virtues of wine. Speaking of which, it is possible to single out some interesting emerging trends:
-A winery in full view as a dominant element in the design of the space, often the heart of the restaurant itself.
-Wine by the glass list offered on the menu. In France, the concept of vin au verre has proven to be a winning solution within the context of a general decline in wine consumption in restaurants.
-Wine corkage: the service that consists in bringing one’s own bottle of wine to a restaurant and being charged a minimal fee to cork it.

The future role of sommelier in restaurants
The sommelier is a figure that, since the beginning of the 1960’s, has been looked upon with a certain skepticism by restaurant owners. In recent years, however, there has been a progressive re-.evaluation of the profession and its merits, arriving at the point that today 58.2% consider this role to be of prime importance, following only that of the chef.
The role of sommelier seems destined only to grow in the future, going hand in hand with the globalization of enogastronomy and the ever more demanding and informed requests of clients that require the competencies of a highly specialized figure, capable of not only advice on the best combinations between food and wine, but also of sharing knowledge on less noted or local wines. At the same time, this process requires a rigorous and costly professional updating, with a particular eye kept on the continuous changes in the tastes of clients and international tendencies.
The sommelier must become not only a wine expert, but also an expert on all drinks offered in high level restaurants, and must be capable of elevating the “dining experience