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One question that I am often asked at tastings is about how quality relates to price. Variations on the question, does spending more get me better wine? And more importantly, will I taste the difference.
The short answer is yes and probably. But like many things it is more complex than that. Firstly, I try to make clear that quality is an objective judgement around which wine experts will generally agree and is based on specific criteria, taste is entirely subjective. If you like red wine but prefer lighter and low tannin wines, then you will not enjoy a Barolo which is always high in tannin no matter how good it is.
As with any product one of the key drivers is supply and demand. Some of the world’s best wines are also some of the rarest. The legendary Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy produces around 450 cases of wine a year. Production costs are high in order to maintain the quality, but with so little wine available it commands super-premium prices simply because people want to have it. There is also an investment element present in such prestigious wines, so many bottles end up in storage to be traded and not drunk. The reputation of the all the top Burgundy wines (the Grands Crus), combined with small production, helps to maintain the price not only these top wines but also of each of the levels below. As a result, it can be difficult to find value in some of the lower end wines (Regional wines). For this reason, I often look elsewhere for wines made from the same Pinot Noir grape.
Burgundy is perhaps an extreme example, but it does highlight one of the reasons that increases in price are not always matched by corresponding increases in quality.
I mentioned production costs above and that plays a major role in price. Mass produced wines look to minimise costs and because of mechanisation in the vineyard and the winery they can be produced very cheaply. The starting point is yield. Where grapes are grown to produce high yields, flavours can become diluted and the wines can lack flavour. A perfect example of this is in Northeast Italy, where the wide open, fertile plains of Veneto with lots of sunshine and warmth allow Pinot Grigio grapes to produce very high yields that produces the wine that we all know. It is very reasonably priced, has some fruit character, and is perfect on a hot summer’s day. The same grapes can be grown in more challenging conditions, and with restricted yields and produce a wine that has much more intense flavour and would be regarded as being of higher quality. But it will be more expensive, and if you over-chilled it for a summer drink you would lose much of the additional complexity that you had paid extra for.
Sweet wines also have very low yields because most are produced from grapes that have lost water content to intensify the sugar and flavour compounds. This happens in a variety of ways and the resulting juice is much thicker and more difficult to process.
The relationship between price and quality is by no means an exact science, and although there may be some rules there are always exceptions. And, when all is said and done, it is also about what you like!