What am I Paying For?

As wine prices continue to rise, particulalry at the upper end of the scale, the above question looms ever larger. Just exactly what is it that we're meant to be buying when we shell out a lot of dough for a bottle or case of wine?

In one sense, this is an easy question, with an easy answer: you're buying a scarce commodity. Price is not, of course, determined by any inherent quality in a wine, but by a number of factors which allow for its price to be determined. Only one of those is quality. In today's spot-fee world, it is no longer diffcult for large wineries to produce sound, pleasant and drinkable wine. Many do so every vintage, without a miss (see Columbia Crest or Meridian, for example), even managing to hit some real high notes every now and again. And they generally do this at very friendly price points. So why not simply stick to these?

Well, a lot of people should. These wines provide a lot of bang for the buck, are varietally correct, versatile with food, and consistent, ear after year. And these folks, and I generally count myself amongst them in this respect, tend to balk at the outrageous prices now being charged for their favorite varietals (oten cabernet) by well-known, so called boutique producers. Napa Valley is the most famous winegrowing region in America, and a bottle of cabernet from there may now cost many times what they are used to spending. Worse thean that, they may be in a restaurant whose markups can make the whole thing look like nothing so much as a ponzi scheme.

Now all this would be okay if, as once was the case, our consumer were getting something really special. If he were getting, say, an aged red wine of real distinction, one tannic and powerful, now with its edges softened and the full effect of its complexity and balance on display. Most poeple here think in terms of French wine, but for those of us who've had a '74 Mondavi Reserve or a '68 BV Reserve, we know that California can compete, and then some, in this area.

But that's not what our consumer is getting. He's getting a very ripe, "powerful" (I don't think we really understand that word any more), oaky fruit bomb that may be as high as 17 per cent alcohol, and which has almost certainly been released too soon from the winery and therefore tastes like nothing so much as a barrel sample-in-a-bottle. These wines generally have some flavors of dried fruit in them, too, the result of the grapes hanging for too long on the vines, and may well give the impression of sickly sweetness - even when they're fermented to dry - as a result. If this description sounds less than appealing, you might well ask yourself when you open your next bottle of the pricey stuff: just what IS it that I'm supposed to be paying for here?