Does Expensive Wine Taste Better

[Oyaji]

I find pricing good wine in USD is a non-sense as being produced in France, price will be affected by EUR/USD rate.
Expensive wine (over 100EUR) can be good or bad depending on everyone taste (also "bottling" and "corking" can kill an excellent one) but cheap wine: below 8-10EUR are more likely to taste ******.

 

[BC2012]

You are certainly paying for brand at all price points. A bottle of Yellow Tail at $8 is of lesser quality than loads of $8, smaller-scale Aussie shiraz producers (even with YT's economy of scale) because it has a recognized brand and people will pay for it.

Same thing goes for a bottle of Mondavi Reserve cab ($100ish) and a bottle of Screaming Eagle cab ($1200ish). I personally feel that the Mondavi has more structure most years (I haven't had the past few released vintages of SE - my connection dried up) but you are paying for the exclusivity and brand. Now, I will undeniably say that the Mondavi and SE are lightyears better than some Oak Canyon Cab or something in that price point. Better structure, mouthfeel, fruit presence, aging ability, and finish.

Wine, in general, is priced just like any other product: determine the base price for a similar product and add/subtract value until you reach the pricing level you want (skimming, penetrating, etc.). If an expensive wine tastes like rubbish, it will fall out of favor with wine nerds like me and will either reduce price or will become a niche player. A great example is Silver Oak Napa. It tastes like most $40 Napa cab but is priced in the $100 range. It has a reputation for being a "great" cab amongst non-enthusiasts and serves that market.

 

[LeadSmall3BetAllIN]

Diminishing returns are steep and the variety of expensive choices is broad. These blind tasting tests don't work.

 

[Esa]

You cannot make the assumption that cost equals quality.

I have a feeling the 2010 vintage from Napa and Sonoma will not be very good because of the bad weather. Wineries will not discount for this. Likewise, 2005 Bordeaux and 2007 Sonoma/Napa wines can be found at reasonable prices and I find them exceptional.

I think it is more important to learn the wine growing regions varietal(s) and banner years. Then, pair a wine to your meal in a budget you are comfortable with. It will be good. Wine is made in the vineyard - farming is the most important factor!

 

[facebookdigg123]

expensive =/= better

 

[Piobaire]

Five star thread.

 

[Esa]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Five star thread.

05 future were high because the grapes were good in that region. That was my point.

Go to Costco and find a 05 Bordeaux, buy it, drink it....be happy.

 

[GQgeek]

you guys don't know ****** wine unless you've tasted wine from peru. It's amazing that with chile next door making decent ones they don't make anything that's drinkable... It's like drinking sweetened cough syrup.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Esa

You cannot make the assumption that cost equals quality. I have a feeling the 2010 vintage from Napa and Sonoma will not be very good because of the bad weather. Wineries will not discount for this. Likewise, 2005 Bordeaux and 2007 Sonoma/Napa wines can be found at reasonable prices and I find them exceptional. I think it is more important to learn the wine growing regions varietal(s) and banner years. Then, pair a wine to your meal in a budget you are comfortable with. It will be good. Wine is made in the vineyard - farming is the most important factor!

Originally Posted by Esa

05 future were high because the grapes were good in that region. That was my point. Go to Costco and find a 05 Bordeaux, buy it, drink it....be happy.
The topic of this thread is quality and its relation to price. You said 05 Bordeaux could be found at reasonable prices. This is true, in a trivial sense, as you can find drinkable Bordeauxs for modest prices. However, as I said then redacted, the Bordeaux futures were record setting. That counters your assertion in a meaningful way. We're talking quality Bordeaux here, not lesser labels that benefited from a great growing season. As I also said about 07 Left Coast pricing, all the talk on wine boards was about the fact producers were not cutting prices. It was a good/great vintage, and even though the recession had set in by release, prices were flat or up. While I agree with your very first sentence, that price does not guarantee quality wine, neither can the correlation be discounted.

 

[Pezzaturra]

There is definitely a correlation between price and quality when it comes to, everything.

 

[binge]

Sometimes wine that tastes better doesn't even taste better.

 

[RSS]

Cost aside, quality is indeed better than junk.