What are the factors that go into pricing wine? Vintage? Aging time? Type of grapes used? And, while I’m at it, I’ve noticed that sweet wines tend to be less expensive than dry ones. Is this true as a rule of thumb? If so, why?
It’s pretty much a supply and demand thing.
Gallo Mellow Red comes in tank cars, and it gets made from frozen grapes year round. If you want some, you can have some, any time, anywhere, and the price is pretty stable. Lots of people drink it, and there is no shortage.
Villa Antinori makes it’s Chianti Reservia from grapes grown in one year, from one vinyard, in one area of Italy. When they finish, they store it in barrels, and then bottle it. That’s it, that’s all there is, and that vintage is never going to be made again. In an average year, lots of folks want some. Back in 1975, things were a bit different. Everyone wanted some. It started off at 19.95 a bottle by 1977, and in a few years it was a couple of hundred a bottle. It was really good. So good, in fact, that if you could find a bottle of it now, you would probably be able to sell it at auction for a whole lot of money.
Gallo makes its wines for a market that desires the exact same product, available conveniently, and reliably. They use every means possible to prevent exactly what the folks at Villa Antinori are trying to make happen. No one wants a premier bottle of Mellow Red. No one is going to pay extra for one. So, you make them all in big vats, and mix the result to get an even, reliable, uniform product. Villa Antinori has bad years. Some years there is no Reservia. Some years none of the Chianti deserves that distinction. Not a month goes by without a shipment of Gallo Mellow Red.
The rest of the wine world falls somewhere in that same range. Not every Villa, or Chateau is equal, of course, and some produce overpriced mass product with a fancy label. But over time, those who really like wine find out about that. And when some little farm in Chile, or Armenia starts getting it right, you get a few cheap years of very good wine, and then the rest of the world catches on, and the price goes up. You also get a few great houses of the last century getting bought up by mass marketers, and great wines of the last century disappear forever. Because the market produces what the market demands. Some demand cheap wine, some demand expensive wine. Quite aside from that, some demand only good wine, and try not to pay more than it is worth.
Sugar is cheap, and you can add it to sour wine, and make it taste more appealing to some people. The complex flavors of good dry wine are not cheap, but they too appeal to some people.
Tris
The price of a bottle of wine is determined solely by supply and demand. Those factors you mentioned (vintage, grapes, etc.) are simply components of supply and demand.
Aside from the silly comments about supply and demand, which is entirely true, let’s discuss expensive wines, one of the loves of my life.
Some old and rare wines are expensive because collectors wish to possess a bottle for the lable, prestige, etc. Just like collecting stamps.
But for real macho men and tasteful women, wines that happen to be expensive are sought after and paid for because they taste good. Very good. Better than sex good. (Okay, this point is debateable, but it is in the same category.) There is nothing on God’s green earth quite like a fabulous wine with a great meal. It is one of the better in body experiences that you can have. Only the very best winemakers in the better years actually achieve this. Word gets around, and supply and demand kicks in. Not all expensive wines are truly great, and you can get some good values in well made cheap wine.
Now for some tips that may help you avoid bad experiences and eventually have good experiences. Manly and womanly wine drinkers enjoy all but lousy wine. We enjoy white, rose and red. We like it from the best wineries, and we aren’t snobbish at a backyard BBQ if wine comes in a box or with a screw on top provided that it isn’t outright bad, which is most wines these days. Your local grocery chain won’t be caught with a bad wine unless the bottle is spoiled. But when we go for the best of the best, we generally talk about red wines. Yes, reds are stronger and take some getting used to, but wine ecstasy as described above comes in the color red. Start with Merlots, which are a little lighter on taste, but move to Cabernet over time. California Cabernets, French Burgandies, Italian Chianti’s have wonderful reputations. But don’t miss Chilean wines, which are wonderful and far more bang for the buck than better known regions. Australian Chiraz wines have a good reputation too. All of them, in moderation, are healthful.
Now, an above poster described Gallo wines. Ernest and Julio Gallo made a fortune in cheap California wines. It was a good value. During the past quarter century the company they have founded (at least one is dead, and the other is ancient if still alive) have produced fine premium wines at all but the most expensive levels. They win all kinds of awards, including first place gold medals, in many, many competitions. They are excellent wines. However, if you hang around wine snobs, you will become the butt of jokes if you serve or praise Gallo. These folks don’t know what they are talking about. Gallo only sells good wines and are always good values. That’s how they got stinking rich. Deservedly.
Now, Gallo isn’t my preference. I primarily like California and Chilean wines best. The others I mentioned are wonderful too, but I’m originally from California, so I have a soft spot (and the best wines I have ever had are also from home), and I have never lifted a glass of Chilean that didn’t tasted like wines costing at least 3 to 5 times as much. Try Caymus Vineyards, Mondavi or Beaulieu Vineyards reserve wines once you get used to the strong flavor of reds. California super premium wines are best in my experience between 12 to 14 years of age and up a little bit more. Most folks cannot afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a ready to drink super premium, so they have to buy them newer and age them. Age them out of any direct sunlight, in a cool (but not referidgerated place) that doesn’t have temperature swings. Decant them before you serve them. (Pour them into a serveing flask slowly, leaving the residue behind.) Serve with a special meal. Rule of thumb is usually red wines go with red meat. But a really good red wine goes with anything.
Serve it is a glass that is open and has surface area, think brandy snifter before champaign flute. Give it some air before tasting. This is called letting it breath. Taste it, let it go all over your tongue. Swallow it. Don’t hang out with people who only taste and spit out. Good wine in this way is like some other good things in life, you want the swallow, not spits. Only effete snobs don’t drink the wine they poor. It’s like hunting. If you are going to kill the prey, consume it, don’t waste it.
There is a lot of talk about tastes of this or that, and hints of so and so that wine snobs go on about. Trying to define the flavor. I suppose all this is true, but I drink wine to enjoy it, not to deconstruct it. Once you have some experience tasting good wine, you need not be intimidated by these forensic drinkers: you enjoy the wine, or not, to the level you like it.
I like Shiraz. Particularly, Australian.
HIJACK!!!
The type of wine is just a matter of taste. I prefer Merlots over the other red wines, and especially over Shiraz. The Australian Lindemann is a good wine for the value. But I could drink practically any red wine; however, if it is a white wine, it better be outstanding. I like a hearty red wine, and although Cabernet is supposed to be heartier, I like Merlot better. BV (Beaulieu Vineyards) makes fine wines at reasonable prices, too.
Thanks to Triskadecamus and I am Sparticus for a detailed answer to the question. In particular, thanks for extending the discussion into what the worth if the wine is to the drinker. And, since I’m just starting to appreciate a good wine, I’ll take some of your suggestions.
And part of it’s just hype and marketing.
Several family members work for the wine industry, and they frequently lament how wines that insiders manage to get into the famous “Wine Specatator” reviews which conveniently ignore other wines of equal quality.
Smaller wineries – such as one I’m familiar with – have to deal with types of wine that don’t sell one year – for whatever reason. Those losses have to be made up by adding to the price of wines that do sell. So sometimes wine price reflects, not the quality of the wine, but the lack of quality or the overpricing of something else the winery can’t sell.
A friend worked as a chemist at Gallo one summer, and said they could produce wines with any taste they wanted. What people want to buy a lot of is wine that’s bland and predictable – that’s where the big money is – so that’s what they make.
I beg to differ. I like Merlot. Nice round simple tastes. I’ve never had a Merlot that wasn’t yummy. But I’ve never had one to bother remembering to buy some or more of either. A big burgandy or cabernet sometimes disappoints, but never for lack of trying. Unless it’s cut with too much Merlot.
And a very good point about the Wine Spectator. There is much complaining that this too influential magazine (which I understand has only one taster) for economic reasons causes vintners to make their wines to taste well with that critic, rather than being good individually. He won’t live forever.
As for Gallo making wines taste however they want, they can make excellent wines, and they win lots of awards for all their classes of wines. But I was only trying to disabuse the long outdated notion that they were mere “cheap and cheerful” wines. Among California wines, very good years of BV (Beaulieu Vineyards – go for their Rutherford Vineyard), Mondavi, Beringer, Caymus, Heitz, Grgich and Opus One are among my favorites. If Gallo can duplicate these great cabernets, somebody let them know to start advertising their taste alike qualities for years matching: 1969, 1973, 1982 - 1987, anything in the 90s, but especially 1997 (best year ever for California Cabernets IMHO) and I will believe. You might be able to get it to taste like anything for someone who doesn’t drink all that often, but I beg to disagree that it can happen. I bumped into a wine distributor a while back who claimed that all California reds are now ready to drink when purchased. The non-reserve ones are. The reserves need some aging. I’ve bumped into people who claim the reserves are the same as the non-reserves. Again, wrong. The reserve wines are much stronger and full bodied. They will not be as enjoyable as after they have mellowed. The difference is akin to roasting marshmellows over the embers of a campfire, or lighting them on fire with a blowtorch. Simmer down now!
The friend who worked at Gallo one summer was one of those types who can pick vineyard and year with a fair degree of accuracy. His claim was they could produce “any” flavor. Even taken with a grain of salt, that still suggests that they could duplicate quite a few of the loftier wine tastes.
I used to enjoy drinking wine from the vintner – David Bruce? – who purposely put out wines that weren’t the “same old” cabs, merlots, burgundies. Those were (are?) good wines that were usually interesting.
As for matching a good BV (or my preferences Stag’s Leap, Mayacamus, and the like), it’s true Gallo might not have access to the grapes, or be willing to pay for them. It’s certainly true they’d be throwing millions of advertising dollars in the trash, while their hard-won customers looked in bafflement at a $25 bottle.
Also, if someone famous owned a bottle of wine, that can make it pretty pricey even if it turned to vinegar.
I just want to add something about sweet wines. While it’s true that your garden variety of sweeter white wines are cheapo stuff. The true sweet white dessert wines of called Sauterne is horribly expensive. And worth it.
To round of a fine dinner with a good dessert and one of these wines is pure bliss. It’s actually better than sex. Prices range from $20 to anyting for half a bottle. Online wine store
And yeah, California wine is ok. And I’m sure there are some vineyards that produce really good wine. Why I would bother with France, Spain and Italy next door, I wouldn’t know.
Mmmm, Stag’s Leap, cask 23.
And Gaspode, better than sex? But you aren’t doing the sex thing right if you find the wine better than sex. But the best wine is better than the worst sex. (Which is still great.)