Having read the last segment, think back to the situation you might be in. Whether you are a restaurateur managing a wine list, the consummate host of many guests at a party, or just simply looking for a wine for tomorrow night’s meal, quality and price are going to be among the top factors in your buying decision. You may have a specific grape or region in mind but, eventually, the choice is all within a budget. Let’s recap the tasting scores and ‘winners’, but this time we’ll include their retail prices. This way, we may better figure out which buying decisions might be ‘worth it’ and if there are some wines to be had that are of great value.

Flight 1 (6 wines, 6 tasters)

 

Flight 2 (8 wines, 10 tasters)

 

Comparisons, comparisons…is that price ‘worth it’?

During the tasting I also asked the judges to estimate a retail price based on their scores. However, the estimated prices for any given wine were widely varied and most quoted no higher than $30. Having a crowd that is not as well versed as professionals in market valuations of wines presents inherent bias in that consumers tend to be influenced by what they would want to pay for the bottle rather than assigning value based on the perceived quality of the wine. Consumers buy wine with their own money for their personal enjoyment versus commercial buyers that are concerned with using their establishments’ funds to resell the wine for a profit. All of them are still ‘value for money’ conscious but have different goals in mind.

For some of the comparisons, like the for the Sauvignon blanc matchup, there’s not much of an added value in paying the $4 more if quality and complexity are your angle. If in reading the tasting note, you like the stylistics of one of the wines (the Chilean wine was made in a light bodied, crisp style and the Californian was a more weighty, softer style) then you may prefer one versus the other and this could justify the difference in expense.

 

What about those situations where there was a clear favourite in the scoring? Taking a look at the red wines in both flights, California won three matches (some even by a clear 2- or 3-point lead) and practically tied in a fourth. The Californian reds retailed from approximately double to almost quadruple the price of the Chilean reds. Perhaps there are people that would consider these differences ‘worth it’, but it would difficult to gather a mass of consumers to part with that kind of money if they know there is good wine to be had for a quarter of the price. Keep in mind these Chilean wines scored at least a 13 out of 20 and one scored 16 points – very respectable! In some competitions, 13 and 16 points may earn these wines bronze or silver medals, respectively.

 

Some match-ups were heavily in favour of the Chilean wine, such as the Chardonnay matchup of Flight 2. When a wine quite outshines another based on score (by 4 points) and price (undercutting by $40), it can make potential buyers timid to buy premium priced wines. In this case, the Chilean offering delivered wholeheartedly and the Californian wine left much to be desired.*

*In its defence, I tried the Cakebread Chardonnay the night after and it did improve, perhaps by two points, but I still didn’t believe it warranted the price of $60.

 

Taste around to find great value

The wines of stellar value can sometimes be found by doing something as simple as reading. Perhaps your favourite wine columnist mentions the three or four stars they gave to a $10 bottle. The critics’ ratings are a great start; however they still represent someone else’s opinions and you may feel differently once the wine makes it into your own glass. The statistical analyses help us to see the big picture a little more clearly, but these are definitely not perfect methods – I also admit they are certainly not the most practical either. Only when we ourselves taste and compare different wines will we be truly able to appreciate what great value means. It is important to keep a small record or wine journal to help you recall those that were gems to both your palate and pocketbook. In future articles, it would be interesting to discuss how wines are even priced in the first place and what factors influence whether or not you’ll be asked to pay more (or less) for your next great find.