The Wine Culture

Tony Carlucci, an independent wine educator and the workshop’s other instructor, said many young people don’t understand how to properly drink wine.

“We don’t live in a wine culture,” he said. “In Europe, wine is part of the family setting. It’s not a big deal because they aren’t drinking to get drunk.”

Growing up in an Italian family, Bowling said she has been a wine enthusiast for a while.

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“I started when I was young,” she said. “Under supervision, of course.”

Because many households have only one parent, or both parents work, sit-down family dinners have lapsed, Carlucci said. And wine is intended to be enjoyed with food.

The eating situation is even worse for college students, who have notoriously poor diets, he said.

“Young people tend to rush a lot,” Carlucci said. “Wine is a slow-me-down sort of thing. Young people aren’t in that mindset yet.”

Naturally, Erickson explained the lack of an American wine culture from a geographical standpoint.

“There’s an association of wine with ethnicity,” he said. “People who come from Northeastern Ohio—the Germans and English—are beer drinkers.”

“Young people tend to rush a lot. Wine is a slow-me-down sort of thing. Young people aren’t in that mindset yet.”

Even families that come from traditional wine producing countries like Italy and France lose it by the third generation, Erickson said.

The eastern American climate and soil didn’t help, he said. Initially, nobody grew classic grapes in the east, but by the late 1800’s Germanic wines were being produced, with Ohio leading the first commercial wine business.

Unfortunately, wine snobs still turn up their noses at those initial exports, Carlucci said.

“Ohio doesn’t have the greatest reputation,” he said. “But some wines made here are as good as any in the world.”

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