Posts
Hello Wine Lovers!
Here it is Sunday and so far I have survived my birthday weekend, it was a little "touch and go" last night after dinner, but I pulled through. My family goes out of their way to make me feel special and this year was no exception! My two kids came over yesterday afternoon to help Mom with another superb four course extravaganza and between courses I started to think what it took to get the bottle of wine, my daughter so graciously gave me for my birthday, to the table. As you know from reading this blog, I write about $10 or less wines and I am always amazed how a bottle shows up at a wine shop for that price range considering what it goes through! Harvest is just around the corner and I thought I would point out a few items to get you thinking "How can they do this for $8?"
Wine can be traced back to over 8000 years ago and there are thousands of different varietals. The price put on a bottle of wine is as much perception as it is business, in other words, what will the market bear and will the consumer think it is a good enough wine for the money?
Price also plays into the perception of value, said Vic Motto, a senior partner at Motto Kryla Fisher, a wine industry consulting company in St. Helena, Calif. ''If I made the best wine in the world and charged $1 for it,'' he said, ''no one would believe it was the best. They'd say it's a great bottle of $1 wine.''
But there is much more to the cost of a bottle than the wine inside. To start with, the retail price on the shelf is generally twice what the winery sold the wine for. That means a $100 wine was $50 when it left the winery and $50 was added by the distributor and the retailer.
Wineries, of course, also like to make a profit. A $100 wine that cost $50 when it left its maker may have cost as little as $25 to produce. For wines in the $7 to $10 range, the margin is far less, because the makers make money on volume. But coming up with a precise number is hard because overhead like electricity,staff costs, the cost of the bottle, cork, labels, equipment, and lets not forget the price of an acre of land! It is like anything in our great big world we live in, what is it worth to you? If I open up a bottle of 1961 Cheval Blanc and you taste it and don't like it, that bottle is certainly not worth the estimated $3000 price tag to you. On the other hand you open up a bottle of $9 Cabernet over looking Niagara Falls with your sweetie on a perfect sunny day, and that bottle has a lasting memory of one of your favorites! Whether it is a car, a home, a designer, a dentist, a clothing store, whatever it is, it is what you are willing to pay for a good or service. Value is the key!
Wow, now that's out of he way... let's talk about a wine! Santa Julia Reserva Malbec, from Argentina for $7.99 at the Wine Discount Center. (I believe Binny's has it too)
This wine is loaded with cherry and ripe fruit with a nice bright finish of light tannins. It is dark in color and has a nose of licorice and spice. This wine pairs well with grilled meats and hearty sauces. Again, how the heck do they get this wine to market for well under $10 is beyond me!
Cheers!
J
Here it is Sunday and so far I have survived my birthday weekend, it was a little "touch and go" last night after dinner, but I pulled through. My family goes out of their way to make me feel special and this year was no exception! My two kids came over yesterday afternoon to help Mom with another superb four course extravaganza and between courses I started to think what it took to get the bottle of wine, my daughter so graciously gave me for my birthday, to the table. As you know from reading this blog, I write about $10 or less wines and I am always amazed how a bottle shows up at a wine shop for that price range considering what it goes through! Harvest is just around the corner and I thought I would point out a few items to get you thinking "How can they do this for $8?"
Wine can be traced back to over 8000 years ago and there are thousands of different varietals. The price put on a bottle of wine is as much perception as it is business, in other words, what will the market bear and will the consumer think it is a good enough wine for the money?
Price also plays into the perception of value, said Vic Motto, a senior partner at Motto Kryla Fisher, a wine industry consulting company in St. Helena, Calif. ''If I made the best wine in the world and charged $1 for it,'' he said, ''no one would believe it was the best. They'd say it's a great bottle of $1 wine.''
But there is much more to the cost of a bottle than the wine inside. To start with, the retail price on the shelf is generally twice what the winery sold the wine for. That means a $100 wine was $50 when it left the winery and $50 was added by the distributor and the retailer.
Wineries, of course, also like to make a profit. A $100 wine that cost $50 when it left its maker may have cost as little as $25 to produce. For wines in the $7 to $10 range, the margin is far less, because the makers make money on volume. But coming up with a precise number is hard because overhead like electricity,staff costs, the cost of the bottle, cork, labels, equipment, and lets not forget the price of an acre of land! It is like anything in our great big world we live in, what is it worth to you? If I open up a bottle of 1961 Cheval Blanc and you taste it and don't like it, that bottle is certainly not worth the estimated $3000 price tag to you. On the other hand you open up a bottle of $9 Cabernet over looking Niagara Falls with your sweetie on a perfect sunny day, and that bottle has a lasting memory of one of your favorites! Whether it is a car, a home, a designer, a dentist, a clothing store, whatever it is, it is what you are willing to pay for a good or service. Value is the key!
Wow, now that's out of he way... let's talk about a wine! Santa Julia Reserva Malbec, from Argentina for $7.99 at the Wine Discount Center. (I believe Binny's has it too)
This wine is loaded with cherry and ripe fruit with a nice bright finish of light tannins. It is dark in color and has a nose of licorice and spice. This wine pairs well with grilled meats and hearty sauces. Again, how the heck do they get this wine to market for well under $10 is beyond me!
Cheers!
J
No comments:
Post a Comment