THE PRICE OF WINE: A
few days ago I received Opimian Offering # 235, which is the last catalogue for
this season. I eagerly await this final
offering because this is the one time each year that I can order Californian
wines from Opimian.
To my shock many if not most
of the wines offered were listed at $ 50. to $ 60. per bottle. Now I occasionally drink wine in this price
range. However, most of my daily needs
are met by bottles costing $ 25. or less.
Why do these prices seem so high?
I next dug out last year’s
offering and compared the wines that were offered in both catalogues. In fact the increase in price was around
14%. While that may seem a lot we are now
living with a Canadian dollar that has lost nearly 20% of its value (as compared
to the U.S. greenback) in the past year.
In that context, the price of these wines may actually have dropped.
I next compared wine price
increase for Chilean and Argentinian wines.
Here the price increases were approximately 5 per cent. Since most of the drop in the Canadian dollar
in the past year was against the U.S. dollar and not against other currencies
this increase also makes sense.
Since most wine (at least the
decent stuff) is imported one important variable in wine pricing is currency
fluctuations. Imagine how cheap Retsina
will be if Greece goes back to the Drachma.
OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING PRICE: There are a
number of factors that go into the supply/demand equation. Reputation of a wine (deserved or not)
affects price. As French wine loses
popularity in North America this is more than made up for by the prestige that
French wine holds among the Chinese middle class. This is particularly true for the traditional
wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy; less so for the wines of the south of France. Apparently there is little to be gained in a
Chinese home by showing off a bottle of Languedoc. Interestingly the Japanese market has little
effect on wine prices, but an apparent large effect on the price of Scotch
whiskey.
In recent years there has been
a spat of wineries purchased by famous people.
I have tried wines by Greg Norman, Francis Ford Copola, and even Mike
Weir to name a few. Here the consumer is
paying for fame or notoriety of the vineyard owner; usually someone who has
questionable wine making skills. I now try
to avoid any of these wines.
While currency fluctuations
and name recognition of a vineyard owner may affect the price of a wine, they
do not affect the quality. On the other
hand, the fame of a wine-growing area may be some hint as to a wine’s
quality. Yet, the demand that follows
that fame may drive the price beyond the true value of the wine. For example one can easily argue that the
world’s best wine comes from the Napa Valley.
It follows then that some of the world’s most expensive wine is from
Napa. But on average are Napa wines
really any better than wines from neighbouring Sonoma, where the price is
less? Another example is that famous wine
from the south of France, Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
I like this wine but I can’t tell it from Gigondas, a less expensive
wine produced only a few metres away.
OLD VERSUS NEW VINES: Now here is
one variable that greatly affects the price and at the same time is a true
indication of quality: the age of the vine.
A grapevine is ready for
first production about five years after planting. The vine soon reaches peak production but
after fifteen or twenty years it gradually produces fewer and fewer
grapes. At 75-100 years production is a
fraction of what it was decades earlier.
One would think that growers
would therefore rip out the vines at 20 years or so and replant so that
production would remain high. But here
is the rub. As a vine ages the quality
of the fruit increases and therefore the quality of the wine increases. It is almost a linear function; the older the
vine the better the wine.
Older wines produce less but
better wines and, of course, the older the vine the more expensive the
wine. Sometimes you will see on the
label a term such as “Old Vine Zinfandel”.
This tells you the bottle will be expensive but perhaps worth the
price. Naturally there is no legal
definition of “old vines” so be a little cautious. Occasionally you will see the actual age of
the vines listed on the label. If the
label says the wine came from 60 year-old vines, that is a great piece of
information.
Finally, and this is a very
personal opinion, I believe that there is a relationship between price and
quality. But this relationship is far
less than perfect and it certainly is not linear. Generally speaking a more expensive wine is
of better quality, but there are lots of exceptions.
More importantly, I believe
that the relationship is much closer at the bottom end of the price range than
at the middle or top end. My experience
tells me that a $ 20 wine is almost always better than a $ 10 wine, and the
difference in quality is considerable.
However, I find that if a $ 40 wine is better than a $ 20 wine the
difference in quality is not nearly as great.
So what do I drink? I avoid wines in the $ 10-12 range. I drink lots of wine in the $ 20 range; some
in the $ 40 range; and once or twice a year I’ll quaff an $80 wine.
PLAVIC MALI: I recently had my second visit to the
beautiful country of Croatia. Not only
is the coastline spectacular, this small Balkan country has produced wine for
more than 2,000 years. In fact Croatia
is the 30th producer of wine by volume in the world.
Perhaps because of its long
history of wine-making most of the wine produced in Croatia is made from
varietals that are both indigenous to the area and not grown in other countries
(Slovenia perhaps being an exception).
By far the most common grape
is PLAVIC MALI, a native varietal of
Dalmatia, but now grown throughout Croatia.
Once thought to be the original Zinfandel, Plavic Mali can perhaps be
described as a niece/nephew of Zinfandel.
The original Zinfandel is a variety called Crijenak Kastelanski and
California can thank Croatia for giving it its most famous wine.
Plavic Mali has an intense
flavour, a high alcohol content and can be described as having “fruit
forward”. Unfortunately my cellar
contains only one bottle of Plavic Mali (carefully brought back in my suitcase). I haven’t decided if I’ll share that bottle
with friends or just quietly drink it some night.
OPIMIAN OFFERING 235: As I
mentioned at the beginning of this Whine, the offerings in this category are
generally quite expensive. There are a
few wines under $ 20. I have tried them
all and I shall not be purchasing them again.
If you feel that you want to order something, why not try one of the
offerings (also expensive) from Oregon or Washington? Oregon is famous for its Pinot Noir and I am
particularly partial to wines from Washington State.
