Fine Wine and Spirits

There are basically two schools of thought as to what justifies the price of an expensive wine. The first school of thought suggests that the price of the wine should be based on the actual cost of production of that particular category of wine.

Of course, all the other overhead factors like transportation, marketing, retailing, profit margins and
other aspects would be added on to the cost of production. But the basic premise is that the price should reflect the various costs involved in finally getting the wine available to the buyer. This seems to be a rational idea and there are a lot of supporters for it though that is obviously unrealistic due to supply and demand.

The second school of thought suggests that the price of the wine should be based on the demand from consumers. If there is more demand for a particular category of wine, the price for it should be higher too.

This is more likely an idea that is promoted by wine makers and distributors. In effect, what they are saying is that if the consumer is willing to pay a higher price, then the wine should be priced as such, giving no regard whatsoever to the actual cost of making the wine. This is a more demand-driven logic that is beneficial to makers of wines and is the way things work in the real world.

While both these ideas seem to have some sense in them, the consumer is always left wondering whether they are paying the right price for what they are purchasing. Especially since some wines cost as much as several thousands of dollars, there is always the nagging thought as to whether the price is really justified.

When it comes to the question "when is an expensive wine worth its cost?", the idea proposed by the first school of thought seems to make more sense. While this school of thought is more or less favorable to the consumer, at the same time it also ensures that the wine makers get their profits too.

What is most important to know is that it is really worth paying a steep price for certain wines because it is
incredibly difficult to make those wines. Certain expensive wines are made from grapes which are cultivated in tiny, unique plots of land, which produce very low yields.

Some other wines are cultivated on steeply terraced slopes making the work extremely difficult. Such wines can definitely demand a higher price. Thus some feel that the factor that determines the price of the wine should be the difficulty of that particular wine's manufacturing process. If the cost of producing the wine is very high, then it can be priced high as well.

I like to look at it in terms of office work. As a boss or manager, are you more interested in efforts or results of subordinates? We would like to think that they are one in the same. Of course, they are not. Results are far more valuable than efforts. I would venture to say the same is so for expensive wine.

Wine rating or scoring is both an art and science. Experts called in to rate have substantial responsibility. There is a lot of money in the industry and their scoring can either raise or lower the value of a particular brand; it is important that their rating is fair and accurate.

Most experts are aware of this and do a fair and unbiased job. But even when they do a good job, there will always be a difference of opinion and some criticism from people who do not agree with their scores. Experts test wines on a number of characteristics. Attributes like taste, smell, color, finish and overall drinkability are taken into account. Each of these qualities is scored.

The scores are summed and then rated. All aspects of the wines contribute to the score. It is not enough for a wine to be just tasty, smell great, or look colorful. It has to score well on all the attributes to get a good rating from the experts. Try rating the wines that you come across so that you can develop a scorecard for future reference. You can also recommend some wines to your friends and acquaintances based on your expertise from developing your own scorecard.

Just as the experts do, you can have parameters or qualities that you deem important. You can test each one and assign points. Total the score for each wine to arrive at its specific rating.

To rate fairly, you need to group wines in the same category while testing them. Grouping can be done in terms of price range, the region from which they come or the state where they are made and so on. Grouping them together would make your rating fairer and even.

You also need to remember that you should not be biased when testing particular wines. That is the reason most people do their tasting and reviewing totally "blind". They strip the labels off and have no information whatsoever while tasting it in order to be non-biased. To make the rating more objective, you can also do it as a group. The average score from the group can then indicate the rating for the wine, which would be fairer.

So remember that while expert raters have, sometimes, decades of experience and palette fine-tuning behind them, you too can impress your friends and wine aficionados with your rating skills. Just follow these simple tips outlined above.