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Jun 19, 2007
1 years ago What Does Price Have To Do With It?A few years ago I was at a social function where its main event was a wine and cheese tasting. The selection was a fine array of curdled milk products from France, Belgium, and Italy (among others). Brie de Meaux, Havarti, Dubliner, Gorgonzola, and others lined the tables that wonderful evening. Cheese is great—and I could talk about it for hours on end—but this is a wine forum, so I had better stick with chatting about wine (although, just a “head’s up” [i.e., subtle warning] I’ll be talking about cheese and its relation to wine soon).
Anyway, that same evening there was also a cornucopia of wine. There weren’t “too many”—which is equivalent to making your body swim with alcohol if you were to try every last one—but enough to make you giddy. It was at this fine occasion that I began learning to really appreciate various types and flavors of wine. Before this, I just guzzled it for the taste and alcohol. After this night, a flame in my soul would be kindled—and that flame was lit by a gentleman named Garth MacDonald. Mr. MacDonald was the evening’s sommelier. Although not professionally or internationally recognized, his deep and detailed knowledge of all-things-vino stemmed from an intense love for the beverage of the vine, hands-on experience as a grape-grower and winemaker in native Australia, as well as a bachelor’s degree in horticulture. That being said, he knew what he was talking about when it came to wine. I had the opportunity to chat with him that evening, and took advantage of this time by asking some questions that I had had about wine. I specifically remember one of these questions—perhaps something you have wondered as well: Are the more expensive wines better than their cheaper counterparts? Or, put another way, what does price have to do with it? And what was his answer? Yes, and no. I was actually quite surprised at the answer. I expected an affirmative “yes.” Nonetheless, Garth gave me reasons for his quick answer. For starters, there is the matter of supply and demand. A certain wine may be more inferior to another. Even so, for whatever reason, the inferior in quality may in fact be more popular among the masses. ADVERTISEMENT Okay, besides supply and demand, there are other factors. For example, rarity. A particular grape may be rare and difficult to create wine with (for a number of reasons—climate, soil, idiosyncrasies of the grape, etc.). Nonetheless, there still is a market for the product (and perhaps a larger one because it is so rare), so the winemakers continue creating wine from the fruit of that vine. Nonetheless, the price is increased to supplement the effort and risk involved in harvesting and fermenting this rare breed. Then there is location and shipping as a means of increasing the price of various bottles of wine. Also, there is the nation’s economy within which the wine is created to consider. And the list could go on and on. But, for the purposes of this article, we’ll stop there. Then Garth began to mention those few wines which were excelled and were incredibly pricy at the same time. These were those wines which the professional and perfectionist winemakers created after years of hard-earned experience, superior equipment, and patience. These were the elite wines—created by elite winemakers—enjoyed by elite wine tasters. And, like the saying goes, you get what you pay for. And so it is with these wines—pricy as they are, they are a tier above others. Garth had piqued my curiosity. I asked which wines these “ultimate vino beverages” were, and he simply said, “That’s for you to find out.” However, he did end the conversation by saying, “Don’t think that those exceptional wines are all pricy. My favorite is from Australia, and runs at about $15 a bottle.”
And so it began—my journey to discover the most excellent wines. Feel free to try for yourself. But, please, don’t get hung up on the price. |
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