Are expensive wines worth it? This is a pertinent question now that there is a mushroom cloud where our economy used to be. There are lots of indications that the wine industry is suffering as people stop splurging – and as a result, the LCBO has been dropping some of their prices. But most wines cost the same now as they did before your investment portfolio turned into a smoking crater.
So is it really worth buying a $40 wine when Fuzion (reviewed here) can give you the same buzz for seven bucks?
Luckily for us we don’t have to guess. A crowd of people wearing lab coats has discovered a scientific answer. The American Association of Wine Economists has released a fascinating peer-reviewed study entitled “Do More Expensive Wines Taste Better? Evidence from a Large Sample of Blind Tastings.”
The paper begins with the premise that consumers generally believe that when something is more expensive, it is better quality. However, according to this paper, once the blindfold tightens over your eyes, everything changes:
Our main finding is that, on average, individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from expensive wine. In fact, they enjoy more expensive wines slightly less.
Incredibly, the study found that on average, non-expert wine drinkers prefer a cheap wine to one that is 100 times more expensive. Since trained wine writers and sommeliers tend to prefer more expensive bottles, the study concludes that perhaps experts cannot assist the average consumer find something they will truly enjoy. Ouch.
A lot of people are blogging about this study as if it proves that wine appreciation is a fraud. I don’t think things are so simple. Many prefer Danielle Steele to Franz Kafka, but that doesn’t mean that we brand Kafka a pretentious imposter.
Like literature or music, great wine may not always be immediately accessible. But with education and experience, your horizons widen and you can appreciate new and strange forms of beauty. Art is supposed to be challenging – that’s what makes it worthwhile.
Unfortunately, one of the ways you expand your tastes is to educate yourself with expensive wines, and this costs money. I was studying hard a couple days ago with a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($33.95, Vintages #304469) from New Zealand. Almost $35 is a lot to pay for Sauvignon Blanc, but I have no hesitation in saying that this bottle presented something that you couldn’t find for any less money. The flavours are typical of other Sauvignons: mango, blossoms, green melon, orange peel bitterness and kiwi acidity. But these come together entirely differently. The wine was tightly knit, perfectly balanced and substantial without ever being heavy. It had a perfect texture. Superb.
Texture may not be what everyone is looking for – but I suppose it’s worth it to me.
Matthew Sullivan is a civil litigator in Toronto. He writes a weekly blog entry here on lawandstyle.ca. The Short Cellar column appears in the print edition of Precedent. Matthew can be reached at matthew@lawandstyle.beta-site.ca