ARE EXPENSIVE WINES BETTER THAN CHEAPER ONES?

 

I have been interested in wine for as long as I can remember.  

As far back as the 1970s, in my early twenties and newly-wed, we liked to entertain regularly and, eager to impress our friends, would often seek to buy a ‘special’ bottle of wine. At a time when supermarkets as we know them today were still in their infancy, this meant a visit to the off-licence. 

Interestingly, during COVID-19 lockdown, although pubs, restaurants and bars were forced to close, off-licences have been considered to be essential businesses and allowed to stay open to sell alcohol for home consumption. 

The mistake many of us make in wanting to up our game, and impress others, is to spend more without considering whether or not for the price we are paying we are actually getting a ‘better’ bottle of wine.  

All too often when buying wine, the first consideration is price, and much as I hate to say it, how pretty the label looks! 

This is only natural as most of us have a budget, and this year in particular has seen many of us tightening our belts.   

Over 40 years after my first foray into wine consumption, I now find that the majority of my long-standing friends are also wine lovers. When we get together it is fun to encourage them to bring along interesting finds so that we can open several bottles and compare them.  

Comparative tastings are a really good way to explore the various attributes of different wines. As a wine tutor I hold regular wine tastings to give as many people as possible the opportunity to try something out of the norm, often with surprising results. 

The important thing is not to allow the price to sway you towards thinking that it relates to the quality of the wine.  

When it comes to making and selling wine there are many factors that need to be taken into account, including the cost of the land, labour, processing, storing, marketing, shipping and, of course, tax. 

There is a mountain of evidence from blind tastings that consistently disprove the myth that expensive wines are better wines; there is virtually no connection between how much a wine costs and how much people may like it.  

However, if you are a serious collector, then you must consider wine as an investment, which will influence what you are prepared to pay.  

For everyday drinking there is no reason to spend a fortune on a bottle of wine to enjoy it. When it comes to wine competitions, where wine makers are keen to demonstrate how many awards they have won, these are usually organised on the basis of a grape variety and the year of vintage.  

Personally, I get a great deal of pleasure in finding a superb wine at a bargain price and in my years as a judge, I have found that the average person tends to prefer less expensive wines because in general they are more approachable.  

Some of us can subconsciously be influenced in allowing the quality of a wine to be predetermined by the price. “You get what you pay for” is not necessarily true when it comes to wine.  

In a recent blind tasting, wine experts described what was thought to be an expensive wine as ‘excellent,’ ‘full,’ ‘complex,’ and ‘balanced.’ By contrast, the inexpensive wine was found to be ‘flat,’ ‘simple,’ ‘faulty,’ and ‘weak.’ Unknown to them however, both wines were actually the same!  

So, why do we expect more expensive wine to taste better than less expensive wine? It is purely psychological. I have heard of one wine maker who was struggling to sell his wine at £30 a bottle, but by tripling the price, of the same wine, to over £100, it sold out!  

As with all consumer goods, what really dictates the price of a wine is simply supply and demand. The extent to which celebrities endorse a wine, in addition to press coverage and advertising, can all have a significant influence. In this respect social media has had a huge impact on our buying decisions. 

To avoid falling victim to the myth that expensive wines are better wines, do your research, learn what you like and identify your favourite grape varieties, regions, and wine style. 

Finding a wine that you enjoy at a great price is the way to achieve a memorable wine experience.