I would take a different view of large corporations taking over smaller wne makers however. In Australia the path you outline has not held true and the “Corporates” have often – more often than not indeed – DOWN-graded many of the labels that were admired “family” companies.

The result has been the plethora of sameness that you currently see in US markets, and it is NOT representative of the wide variety of styles and regions that are available to Australian drinkers. The Constellations of this world, in my experience, do dumb down.

This is in great part because of the consolidation of the Three Tier system – these same entities (or their equivalent), controlling much of the distribution chain. Now, fair enough, consolidate by all means for financial efficiency – but then change the laws to allow free trade.

In Australia, alcohol doesn’t have the political stigma that it has in the US – and we often shake our heads in wonder and ask, “What planet are you on?”.