011: Joe Fattorini on the behavioural science of wine, Veblen goods & celebrity endorsement

Fellow BSers,

Welcome to Part 1 of my interview with Joe Fattorini. These next episodes combine two of my loves; wine and BS, and there’s plenty of each in the other! 

Joe is a brilliant guest - warm, insightful and hugely knowledgeable. If you like wine, if you like BS, you'll love this show.

If you think about it for a moment, we can all reflect on wine moments in our lives when deciding what to choose was riddled with anxiety; be it a romantic occasion, gifting to one’s in-laws or lubricating clients at a business dinner.

Am I sending the right signals? I don’t want to appear cheap, but certainly not extravagant. I want to be original but not pick a stinker. This is a world full of symbolism and ritual.

Now there may be more critical adjudications in life than sifting between your Grüner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer; but few are as much fun! See, I’m BSing already, referencing the lesser known sommelier’s favourite, Grüner Veltliner. I couldn’t help myself.

Not your regular Joe

Known around the world as Obi Wine Kenobi, Joe Fattorini is co-host of the wildly successful The Wine Show which has 250m viewers across 107 countries.

Joe actually started his career as an academic. Between researching his MPhil on Food & Religion and teaching Structuralist Food Theory and Hotel Valuation Models, Joe wrote the world’s first textbook on selling and marketing wine in restaurants, Managing Wine and Wine Sales, a book still used in universities over 20 years later.

Joe has written extensively and broadly on wine. He wrote for The Herald newspaper for 14 years, he's written for all the UK’s wine magazines and a range of American lifestyle publications. Never shy of controversy, he once wrote the 'most complained about article' ever published in Decanter Magazine.

Joe was the wine consultant to the US PGA golf tour and has won numerous accolades, including IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year Award and IWC Personality of the Year. In 2018 Joe was named 22nd in the 100 Most Influential People in Wine by Drinks Retailing News, the highest placed media figure on the list.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Joe got into wine (sparked by school expulsion!)
• Veblen’s concept of conspicuous consumption
• Wine as God
• Celebrity endorsement and what makes a successful wine
• Symbols and rituals and
• Why cleaning ladies make great whiskey tasters

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Now enjoy the show!

Daniel

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