tl;dr – I had suspicions this was coming next – Michelin is getting into wine.
Big-ish news in the world of wine. Michelin, the tire company that has long published a restaurant guide and recently rolled out a hotel one, is going to start rating wines. More accurately, it will award distinctions for “excellence in wine production,” which will presumably include everything from vineyard quality to the “innovative techniques and contemporary practices of the people who run them.” The first iteration of its wine guide will arrive in 2026, and it will focus on Bordeaux, France.
The distinction? None other than a grape, of course.
Michelin will take five criteria into its benchmarking:
My Thoughts on Michelin’s Latest Venture
I have many thoughts on this. Questions, really – I have questions. Questions about everything from the motivation of this new venture to the practicalities of how it will work. I’ll ruminate on a few:
Was there a recent shakeup in leadership at Michelin where getting more out of the brand became a top focus? I get that we’re in the era of ‘squeeze-every-lost-drop-of-profitable-juice-out-of-your-brand-that’s-possible’, so I guess Michelin felt there was still enough ripe fruit on the vine after both expanding its dining to more regions and releasing a global hotel guide, to slide into the world of wine.
Two great puns there. Or should I say, TWO GRAPE PUNS.
Ahem, moving on.
The world of wine is so vast – many estimates put the number of wine companies (today) north of 100,000, and the number of distinct labels into the tens of millions (if not greater). We know Bordeaux is first, but where will it go from there? And how ‘deep’ will the ‘dedicated wine Inspectors, all professionals employed by the Michelin Group,’ go? Which brings me to my next question…
How will Michelin define ‘wine’? Are we just talking about wine made with traditional Vitis vinifera grapes? Do natural wines or minimal intervention wines count? Or sole conventional wines? Sake? Are there going to be special categories for specialized types of wine (Icewine, Port, Sherry, stuff made from Botrytis-affected grapes)?
The distinction choice of ‘grape’: One Grape, Two Grapes, Three Grapes. Lazy or not?
I can’t decide but I’m leaning yes.
