Wine Pricing

We've all heard of the wines that cost seemingly unbelievable sums. From the cult Cabernets of California (Screaming Eagle, Harlan) to the Super-Tuscans of Italy (Sassacaia, Vigorello) to the Prestige Champagnes (Moet's Dom Perignon, Roederer's Cristal), wines the world over command prices that would seem to indicate impossibly superior quality.

This is not to suggest that these wine are not good. Being fortunately lucky enough to taste many of these wines, I can tell you from first-hand experience that they are usually fantastic. But there is no level of possible quality that can determine their enormous expense. So what makes these wines so pricey? Simple (and in some cases not so simple) economics.

Three of the reasons that I've seen to justify exorbitant wine prices are as follows:

Supply and Demand: This is, of course, the most obvious. It is a factor in all high-priced wine that I can think of. The simple fact is that the winemakers who spend the money (and it costs a lot of money) to create high-quality wine often do so in order to command a premium. This creates the first pressure for demand that can outstrip supply. If this is then joined by the fact that the wine is created in a specific delimited area (as are all of the great wines of the Old World, as well as a growing faction of wines from the New World) that is inherently limited in size and thus in the sheer quantity that can be produced in any given year (most of these areas are also limited in yields per acre as well, and the whole process is abetted by the fact that lower yields almost invariably produce a better wine), then you necessarily have a system that drives demand up much further than supply can ever possibly be.

Futures: This is one of the more complicated reasons for wine pricing. It's only a fixture in the Bordeaux wine region in France, and is a highly individualistic system in determining the value of some of the highest-priced wines in the world. The en primeur, or futures market is pretty much what it sounds like. The most prestigious (read, most expensive) wines in Bordeaux are sold in part before they are bottled. They are released in three subsequently more expensive lots while the wines is still in barrel (and thus not finished and of relatively speculative quality) that go towards determining the final price on the market. The futures can be directly linked to quality - the stellar 2005 vintage of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild sold for record prices, but the merely average 2006 and 2007 vintages were sold for prices that far outstripped their quality, simply because the buying of futures was in fashion for the noveau riche buyers of the time.

Prestige: This category ties back into the supply and demand cycle as well as hitting on the futures market. However, it extends beyond both because the wine can be of less-established quality. Many of the prestige-based wines come from non-traditional areas, such as the IGT Super-Tuscans or the wildly expensive cuvees from the enormous Napa Valley AVA in California. These are wines that are difficult to obtain and thus highly priced more because of clever marketing than any necessary inherent quality. Keep in mind that these wines are certainly well made, but by definition monetarily exceed any logical sliding scale that accompanies the pricing of wine if you consider the sheer scale of drinkablilty of wines priced from $10-$2500.

The long and the short of it is that if you can't afford the most expensive wines in the world, you're not necessarily missing out on all that much. Gorgeous wine experiences can be had within the means of most people and the majority of the politicing that goes along with exceptionally expensive wine proves to be noise that isn't necessarily worth the effort.

On Local Wine

Eating locally has become a big trend, and the hunger to find all things local and artisanal is far from being satiated. But how does that trend reflect on how we drink? Beer is a relatively easy item to find produced locally, as are many spirits, but wine continues to buck that trend. In New York City, it is entirely possible to find several examples of fine Long Island and Finger Lakes wine, but even the best of these can hardly compare to the powerhouses readily available from the worldwide market. And forget about buying local wine if you live in Missouri, Texas or Idaho (consider these all emerging regions). Wine is indeed produced in every state, but barring California, Oregon, Washington, and to far lesser extents, New York and Virginia, the novelty far outweighs the quality at this point.

Part of the problem with producing wine in emerging regions hearkens back to the previously discussed issue of Old World versus New World wine. If you consider the example that Sancerre tastes like Sancerre because it's produced in Sancerre, with a certain requirement for varietal, yield, and viticulture and vinification processes, also consider the fact that wine from emerging regions tastes like nothing except what the winemaker wants it to taste like through grape selection and manipulation. This is hardly an indictment of the winemakers in these areas.

The long and the short of it is that the wine that has been grown in classic regions - and these don't have to all be necessarily Old World - is classic because it consitently conforms to the idea that wine that comes from that region will taste like it comes from that region. Wine from areas where winemakers haven't yet found the correct recipe for production that makes the wine speak of that region necessarily falls short of the wines made in regions that have, through considerable trial and error, found the formula that works well for them.

Local food, beer and spirits are all far easier to come by. Food is the simplest. Just grow what grows arond you. Beer and spirits are rather more easily produced as well. The connection to the land and climate is far less impactful to the final product, as both beer and spirits are by definition more manipulated.

The simple fact is that, while local food, and to a certain extent, beer and spirits, have always been part of the American landscape, albeit falling in and out of fashion, local wine has never been a part of that conversation. While I maintain high hopes for the North Dakota wine industry, it will be many years before it finds the footing it needs to compete on a worldwide level.

Thank goodness California produces world-class wine (though to what extent and why begs another discussion). But until the time comes when your region's vineyards produce the wine you really want to drink, the practicality of buying local wine remains elusive.

First Post - What Wine's Really Like

I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between Old World (Continental Europe) and New World (everything else) wines. This leads me into a thought about grape varietals.

On grape varietals: Knowing that your wine is made from the Chardonnay grape, because that's what's on the label, is such an easy identifier, but can actually be a terrible categorization. The other day at work (I work on the floor of a restaurant as a sommelier), a table ordered a bottle of California Viognier. When I opened it for them, they didn't like it because they thought it was "too sweet." Not wanting to presently get into an extensive discussion of sweetness and dryness in wines (which are actually incredibly confusing descriptions both to give and to receive), suffice to say that the wine had almost no residual sugar. What the customers were actually reacting to and perceiving as sweetness were low acid, over ripeness and over oaking. When selecting their next bottle, they requested a "normal" bottle of California Viognier, described as "light, fresh, dry." Viognier can be a grape that expresses some of these characteristics, but this is hardly the general description for mainstream California Viognier.

Therein lies the point that ordering by grape varietal totally ignores the fact that a multitude of factors (including but not limited to: macro-, micro-, and mesoclimate, pruning and training procedures for the vines, ripening period, fermentation processes, use of oak, malolactic fermentation, and all manner of highly technical considerations and practices) determine how the particular wine in that bottle tastes.

Before shifting to a discussion of various Old World wines and ideas, let's first consider a strikingly New World example that puts into perspective the idea of creating wine that Old World winemakers propagate. The title of my entire blog is "No More Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc," and rest assured that I will tackle the meaning of that title soon, but it's a good model for the consideration of the sense of place that can be more important than the raw material used (though the place strongly influences what material can be used).

The aromas of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc makes it one of the most distinctive wines in the world. It's the kind of wine you pray to get on a blind tasting (I once heard someone say that classic NZ Sauvignon Blanc can be identified when it's poured from the bottle, so strong is its aroma). But, to a large extent, most Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc smells and tastes the same. The common descriptors of intense aromas of citrus, cat's pee, and gooseberry are central to any classically made wine from this region. And it's not all because of the grape. Descriptors of a myriad of different fruits, minerals and herbs are given to Sauvignon Blancs from other parts of the world. Plainly, what makes Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is where it comes from and how it's made.

And this is the exact same concept that extends to Old World wines. Sancerre (also made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape) is known as Sancerre because it smells and tastes like it is from Sancerre. The methods of production (known as viticulture and vinification) determine the characteristics of the wine, and the actual varietal selection is to some extent secondary. Thus, when you order Sancerre, you pretty much know that it's going to taste like Sancerre, because that's what the growing site and the winemaker make it taste like.

Now it's just a matter of figuring out what characteristics you like and where you need to go to find them. And that's all the fun.