Down the drain

Fantastic article by Field Maloney over at Slate, describing how beer sales have lagged while wine has boomed, so much so that a recent Gallup poll named wine more popular than its sudsy counterpart (a finding I don't really buy, so to speak, even if the trends tilt in that direction). It seems that in the current age of marketing, where linking your product to a desirable "lifestyle" ensures gushing sales, wine has a built-in advantage: "Wine, even when it's made at oil-refinery volume, can trade on pastoral associations; beer seems somewhat industrial, no matter how handcrafted the brew."
Another key shift, says Maloney, is that wine connoisseurs have replaced the language of class with the imagery of taste: instead of talking about domain and vintage, labels speak of aromas, hints, and mouth-feel. "Now, Americans who want the exclusivity that connoisseurship offers but didn't want to seem like snobs can have it both ways."
Finally, Maloney puts alcohol in historical perspective. When most Americans farmed, they preferred cider and whiskey - easy byproducts of agricultural production. Only when German immigrants brought their brewing knowledge with them to their new factory jobs did beer gain a foothold. And not until the advent of mass production, fast railroad transportation, pasteurization, and refrigeration did beer become the dominant beverage.
So does America's newfound oenophilia signal a desire to return to the farm, a sort of delayed echo of suburbanization? Or will beer regain its mastery by adopting wine's vocabulary, as Maloney illustrates: "Tasting notes for a pale ale from the Web site BeerAdvocate: 'Nose is floral, like orange blossoms, with some citric rind and soft apple."?
The perfect drink for our postindustrial world, where we simultaneously destroy the environment while fretting over its demise? Bottled water, preferably at least $4 a shot.