It All Comes Down To Personal Taste
Theres reason to believe that the less you know, the more objective you can be when it comes to the taste of wine.
Onestudy found that people rated expensive wines higher than cheap wines even though, in reality, all of the wines in the study retailed for the same price. Whats up with this finding? According to researchers, the brain expects expensive wine to be better quality, so people judge the flavor as better even if it actually tastes the same as a cheaper bottle.
Heres another fun fact: wine experts sommeliers and wine reviewers are more likely to be supertasters, meaning that they taste food more intensely than others and, therefore, might have different preferences than the average person. While a sommelier may sing the praises of a wine thats been aged to perfection, you might prefer ripe fruit flavors to delicate, earthy notes.
The key is to get to know your own preferences. Theres no objective rating system for wine can you imagine? We cant even decide if that dress was blue or white so it all comes down to what you like. And the best way to determine which wines you love is to try a bunch and pick what you like.
The Most Expensive French Wines By Regions
Akin to a classy French aura, these delights assure elegance and luxury! It is a common saying that celebration is never complete without a delicious French wine. Lets now take a look at two of Frances most well known geographic regions where the most famous wines are produced: Burgundy and Bordeaux.
Do I Need A Wine Fridge For Red Wine
Yes. Wine fridges are a must-have for those who love and collect wine. Theyre used to chill your bottles of wine down to the perfect temperature.
So, you can enjoy them when they taste their best. Wine coolers come in all different sizes.
Theres one that will fit on top of almost any countertop or kitchen cabinet, while others need more space below than above.
A wine fridge is a perfect way to store your favorite wine.
Miele wine cooler with innovative design is ideal for storage keeping your wine chilled. Having different temperature zones to keep each wine at its ideal temperature, its a must have kitchen appliance for all wine lovers! Interested in getting yours? Leave us message!
German Kitchens
The best part of a refrigerator for storing wines, in particular, is that it can maintain an optimal temperature while preventing fluctuations caused by opening and closing.
A regular kitchen fridge wont work because theyre meant for food storage not delicate bottles like our beloved vintages.
Manufacturers design wine refrigerators with two different functions. One option keeps perishable items cold and dry.
The other maintains steady temperatures at all costs without fluctuation from frequent access or venting.
Did you know that the lack of humidity in your everyday fridge can adversely affect wine?
When a cork shrinks and becomes porous, it allows odors to seep into your precious bottle.
This is because it does not use dangerous chemicals or emit harmful emissions.
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Can I Keep Red Wine In The Fridge
No .Wine is a delicate spirit that demands specific storage conditions to maintain its integrity.
I have said that the best way to store wine properly is in your cellar or on a shelf.
This is where theres plenty of room and good air circulationbut even then, it doesnt always last very long.
The standard kitchen fridge maintains a chilly 35 F to 38 F temperature.
It also boasts low humidity levels hovering around 30 percent, and many people think its cool enough for their wine!
But those same conditions are just too cold and dry for storing high-quality wines. This is because wine enjoys temperatures ranging from 45 F to 60 degrees Fahrenheit .
Humidity should be 70% or higher at all times so as much water vapor can surround the surface area of each grape.
Winemakers worldwide who store bottles on racks against walls inside rooms have proven these two factors: temperature range and humidity level.
If youre trying to get through a bottle before it goes wrong, chill it as quickly as possible.
You can do this by putting it in a container of ice water or under cool tap water and then into the fridge.
However, make sure that you dont store the wine for the long term especially if you plan on drinking within the next week.
A much better way to store wine purchased from a store is to find the proper storage conditions for that wine.
How Do You Find Value Then
Its not easy! You have to know a little bit about wine, though the internet is a big help. And, Shannon points out, you can always bring your own nice bottle to a restaurant and pay the corkage fee. Theyre not just going to hand you a corkscrew the corkage fee gets you the same service from the sommelier as if you bought a bottle at the restaurant.
But the best value, Shannon says, can be found in the middle of the wine list. Most people buy the most inexpensive wines, and so those get marked up the most. Same with the most expensive bottles of grand cru or whatever, because those customers know what theyre buying and have no problem paying $500 for a bottle. But in terms of value and the way costing works, you may be able to find mid-range wines from Burgundy or Bordeaux that will cost more than the least expensive wines but are actually a better value if youre willing to spend, say, $50 more for it.
In any case, youre not gonna get out of paying a lot of money for wine at a restaurant. But that expensive wine is whats keeping the restaurants lights on, the staff employed andthe ambiance lovely. Youre already dining out you might as well splurge a little!
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Adding Sugar Vs Naturally Occurring Sweetness
In order to ramp up the flavour of affordable bottles, winemakers will use residual sugar preventing all of the natural sugars in the grapes from being converted to alcohol in order to preserve some sweetness and intensity. Youll rarely find this in more expensive wines that are made from concentrated, high-quality grapes.
Machine Harvesting Vs Hand Harvesting
Mechanical harvesting, is fast and cuts down on labour costs
Large producers have more automated processes, whereas small wineries that produce expensive wines use more labour intensive techniques. There are now machines that do all sorts of vineyard and winery processes. From pruning and harvesting to sorting and punch downs. In the long term, investing in machinery will save on labour costs. You need only one person to operate a machine harvester as opposed to an entire team of hand harvesters year after year. The grapes that are used for cheaper wines are grown on large flat expanses of land that will produce high yields with little disease pressure. The vines will be planted and trained in straight rows to allow for machines to easily pass through.
Steep vineyards in Mosel, ideal for maximum sun exposure and optimal ripening conditions, but not so much for hand harvesting
Small wineries however, perform a lot of processes by hand. In some vineyards it is simply not possible to use machines. Take the Riesling grown on the steep hills in Mosel or the Bush vines in Stellenbosch, there are no machines that would be able to harvest or prune those vines. Hand harvesting is more gentle and allows for the first round of sorting to begin out in the vineyards. Some premium wineries will do a second sorting once all the fruit has been collected at the winery. This ensures that only the best grapes are used to make the wine.
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How Is Amarone Made
Instead of using fresh picked, ripe grapes for fermentation, Amarone winemakers use partially dried-out, almost raisin-like grapes, during fermentation. This means the sugars and flavours are concentrated because there is less water in each grape.
The process is called appassimento which involves drying the grapes in crates or on racks over the winter months. This drying out process evaporates the water in the grapes and reduces their weight by about 30%. This means there is an increase the sugar concentration allowing for higher alcohol content in Amarone wine.
Still Its Just A Bottle Of Wine One Thats Marked Way Up
Yeah, even Shannon sometimes balks at the prices she sees on wine lists. As a retail buyer, she knows she can get a bottle of wine that costs $280 at a restaurant for $70 in the outside world. But she points out that, theoretically, youre getting a lot of added service when you purchase wine at a restaurant that you should take advantage of.
Youre getting the proper glassware, youre getting the sommelier whos giving you his or her attention,giving you good recommendations and being available to answer your questions, she says. If youre paying this premium, you should be getting these things. Plus, if its a special occasion, these things are a nice, luxurious touch.
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What Makes Some Wine So Expensive
During his Wines for Zillionaires Seminar at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Mark Oldman let us in on what can make a bottle so pricey.
This is one of our dispatches from a busy weekend at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen
Look over almost any wine list in a restaurantwhether the food is coming out family-style to undressed communal tables or being uncovered in a show of well-rehearsed choreography by an army of tuxedoed serversand youll notice prices that range wildly. I ate a meal recently at a restaurant boasting bottles between $60 and $24,000. But what are the reasons for that disparity? At the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen I sat in with Mark Oldman, wine writer and author of several books, most recently How to Drink Like a Billionaire. Oldman was running the seminar Wine for Zillionaires, where he was guiding people through a tasting of some of the most expensive wines on the planet, and explaining how they got that way.
Here’s the rundown:
Size does matter
The weather matters too
It seems straightforward that the weather in some years produce better wines than others. But there are some many wines out there that arent even made if the winemakers dont believe theyll produce an excellent bottle. These wines are only made in vintage years, which can occur as infrequently as four times a decade, again making for more scarcity.
Consider history and prestige
It may also be in the grape
Here’s the full rundown of what we drank
What Is A Vintage Wine
The word vintage may be slightly misleading to those who think that it means old. Instead, in this context, the word refers to wine made from grapes harvested in the same year. The harvest year usually appears on the label.
When bottles of wine dont indicate the vintage year on the label, its usually because those wines were made from grapes harvested in different years. It may also be because the wine is a blend of wines produced in different years. Even though vintage wines are usually more expensive than non-vintage wines, this is not always the case.
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Master Of Wine James Cluer Fine Vintage Ltd
One of the key ones is that theyre produced in minute quantities and with such powerful worldwide demand that will drive the prices up. Another reason is that its a tough place to make wine, and each year can pose certain challenges. You can have really bad vintages in Burgundy due to hail, or frost, or torrential downpours at harvest time when grapes rot and all that. So sometimes when they hit a good vintage, it will just spike the price off the charts.
A post shared by Fine Vintage on Sep 18, 2019 at 12:06pm PDT
What Makes Some Wines So Expensive
Hello there! I’m Dr. Vinifera, but you can call me Vinny. Ask me your toughest wine questions, from the fine points of etiquette to the science of winemaking. And don’t worry, I’m no wine snobyou can also ask me those “dumb questions” you’re too embarrased to ask your wine geek friends! I hope you find my answers educational, empowering and even amusing. And don’t forget to check out my most asked questions and my full archives for all my Q& A classics.
Dear Dr. Vinny,
What makes some wines so expensive?
Stacia P., France
Dear Stacia,
The price of a bottle of wine reflects a few things. First up are the costs of production, or how much it costs to make a bottle. There are the raw materials of grapes, barrels and bottles, plus utilities and labor. You also have to factor in administrative, sales and marketing costs. If the wine isnt sold directly to a consumer, then distributors, wholesalers and retailers all look to make a profit on every bottle sold, so there are markups along the way. Buying a bottle of wine in a restaurant? Those are often the biggest markups. There is also the variable of Mother Naturesome vintages can vary dramatically in their yields, affecting the whole supply/demand factor, and some challenging vintages bring higher labor costs.
Dr. Vinny
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Chelsea Sawyer Sommelier At Greens Restaurant In San Francisco
My take on the loaded question of why Burgundy Wines are so expensive would be two reasons. First, the name Burgundy. Consumers see the name and immediately associate it to a high quality fancy wine this alone allows for higher prices. Second, there is no wine quite like Burgundy. The pure expression of terroir and subtle yet significant differences found from producer to producer, from plot to plot is incredible. Burgundy allows you to travel through a glass of wine. Drinking Burgundy is an experience.
A post shared by Greens on Sep 16, 2019 at 4:59pm PDT
For those looking to start their exploration of Burgundian wines, Sawyer recommends Domaine De Villaine theyre producing great, approachable and affordable Bourgogne!
Expensive Wine Vs Cheap Whats The Verdict
There are plenty of fantastic wines to be had that wont break the bank. In fact, a studyof 6,000 blind tastings from the Journal of Wine Economics found that there wasnt that significant a relationship between high prices and wine ratings, and that most people actually enjoy really expensive wines slightly less.
Weve referred to this quote from Jancis Robinson before, but it bears repeating when were thinking about how much wine costs:
Far too many wines are clearly priced by marketing people, or those keen to develop or protect a reputation, rather than by wine lovers.
With Janciss caveat in mind, hopefully youve got a better idea of what goes into a bottle of wine, and what drives higher prices. Sometimes its quality, sometimes its rarity it could be technique and sometimes its all of the above.
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Paige Comrie Sommelier & Influencer & Certified American Wine Expert
Burgundy is the O.G. wine region for truly expressive wines. With over 400 documented soil types and more appellations dorigine Controlee than any other French winegrowing region, theres a lot of subtlety in the terroir. Adding to the complexity of the land itself, Napoleonic inheritance laws fragmented vineyard ownership, splitting single vineyards between dozens of owners.
Its a very complex place governing who can grow what where! Then to top it all off, Pinot Noir is a finicky grape thats not easy to grow. All of these factors contribute to limitations to growth and overall scarcity in the market of wines made from particular vineyards, chateaus, or regions. While it may be difficult to find a particularly well-known wine from Burgundy, there are, however, some amazing village-level labels that can be both outstanding quality and more affordable.
Domaine Georges & Christophe Roumier Musigny Grand Cru Cote De Nuits
The Domaine Roumier estate was founded in 1924, covering nearly 12 hectares of land in the Burgundy region of France. An interesting fact about Roumier wines is that no chemicals are used once the vines have blossomed, but the brand is not certified as organic because the Roumier family does not necessarily want to be certified as such.
Five famous Burgundy Grand Crus are produced in the Roumier estate, including Bonnes Mares, Musigny, Charmes Chambertin, Ruchottes Chambertin, and Corton Charlemagne. Out of these five delicious wines, Bonnes Mares is made in very small quantities and is unique, subtle, and complex. An intensely floral, delightfully spicy, ripe, and incredibly fresh pinot fruit and plum aromas will give you an exquisite experience!
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Wine Coolers Keep The Temperature Perfect
Wine enthusiasts know that wines can not take cavalier treatment when it comes to temperature. Hot and cold temperature fluctuations ruin the quality of the wine. Wine that is kept too hot will cook, completely ruining the flavor and quality of the wine. Wine that is kept too cold will fall prey to ice particles. This causes the wine volume to expand and will ultimately push out the cork causing a leak or total cork failure.
- Wine coolers have thermostats that keep wine at the perfect temperature. These coolers have a temperature range from 41 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This allows for long-term storage of wines at about 55 degrees, as well as optimized serving temperatures for various wines.
- Wine coolers often have a special chilling zone for wines that need to be rapidly chilled for near-term enjoyment.
- Some wine coolers have two divided zones. These zones allow red wines to be stored on one side at their ideal storage or serving temperature, and white wines to be stored in the other size at a different ideal storage or serving temperature. This flexibility is highly sought after by many wine enthusiasts.
A refrigerator can not double as a wine cooler because the temperature is not as steady, even in a dedicated mini-fridge. The family refrigerator is a terrible place to store any wines because the temperature is much too cold and it fluctuates rapidly with frequent use.
