Value for money is in eye of the stem holder
A cheap wine may offer no pleasure and thus is of zero-value, whereas a relatively expensive wine may indeed confer the kind of joy and excitement that sustains us for a long period of time afterwards.
Although the market determines the prices of wines (alongside the associated cost of their production), the value ascribed to a specific wine is also highly personal. The wine that hits the spot, the right wine at the right time, or the wine that disappointed us because it did not fulfil our expectations.
The differential cost between a cheap and expensive wine seems enormous when you consider that both are aspects of fermented grape juice and consumable liquids. One could say the same for cars in that a run-of-the-mill four wheeler fulfils the same function as the top-of-the-range sportscar in that it gets you from A to B.
Some expensive wines undoubtedly reach their exalted price point as a result of hype and perceived desirability. A team of experts is hired, the best that money can buy, to craft a creation that critics will laud, and rich people will consume, and ordinary mortals may merely aspire to. The value here is as of a tradeable commodity.
Cheaper wines are manufactured precisely to hit psychological price points. The scale of production ensures savings and industrial winemaking methods focuses on the consistency of the commercial product.
For winemakers small or large the costs of production inevitably rise each year. Land, machinery, labour, electricity, transportation, storage – not to mention the vagaries of vintage, taxes, the raising of documentation and the exchange rate, all will add a cost to the final wine. The larger companies can minimise the effect by their economies of scale, the smaller vigneron is at the mercy of these market pressures.
Despite all this, it would be a shame if delicious wine had become unaffordable. We cannot help that restaurants require ridiculously high gross profit margins to be able to exist, but we wonder whether this will simply serve to drive customers away from wine. By applying rigorous gross profit margins to all wines (regardless of merit), some of those wines will price themselves beyond the pockets of the clientele. Cash margins are a far more equitable solution here.
Meanwhile, we can help as much as possible by sourcing the best wines we can at the best prices, to serve the needs of restaurants (and retailers) and their customers.
Often this involves collaborating with individual growers or small progressive co-ops. It involves establishing clearly what we expect in terms of the quality of farming and the style of winemaking. It involves a financial investment on our part – for example, payment upfront and committing to a minimum number of bottles to be taken within a specific period. Other growers are in tune with the needs of the market, will do their own research and come up with the right wine at the right price. It is important to recognise that the margins are very fine in these cases.
We decided to set up a tasting where everything fitted one very basic criterion – that all the wines on show would sell under £25 retail (and most of those would be under £20). Even more than their inexpensive price point, the wines would also be made from organically or biodynamically farmed fruit, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and bottled with light/zero filtration and small amounts only of added sulphites (or none). Ergo, a low-intervention wine tasting within a bang-for-buck tasting.
This gave us nearly 130 wines in total and another 30-40 wines that might have qualified but missed the cut. As for quality, and the bang element of the tasting, this has to be a personal assessment. I would say each wine on pour should be more than merely competently made; it should hold one’s interest. Flavours should be real and not confected, there should be a degree of depth and layers in as many cases as possible.
Just because the wines are relatively inexpensive doesn’t mean they are homogenous. Our tasting features over 80 grape varieties (singly or in blends). Native yeast ferments add a point of difference. Origin another (types of soil, aspects and microclimates). Diversity is the key to all our tastings, and this is no exception.
In the end, value in wine is what rocks your respective boat, but in crude terms, we also understand that cash is king, and that as a restaurant (and a customer of a restaurant) you need wines for everyday drinking that are interesting enough that you want to drink them!
Please note our upcoming Spring Tasting is for trade members only, if you would like to join us YOU CAN REGISTER BELOW:
