The price of a good wine

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: Magandeep Singh

Being a sommelier has its pitfalls — for one people think that all I can discuss is wine, and perhaps food, every now and then. It’s so rampant that I have even stopped correcting people. But to answer the same questions can be boring; there are only that many imaginative ways to deliver facts. Among the questions most frequent would be this: how much should a good wine cost? Simple question but the answer is not so straightforward because price and good are not level terms — while price is definite, good is subjective. But don’t despair, clarity will come slowly.

Price is a term that can be described as a denomination which someone would be expected to pay in exchange for a product or a service. A good wine can be described as a wine which, after the first sip leaves you with enough of a temptation to try it again. Putting the two together should help us establish the price of a good wine. This is where the concept of “value” comes in — the correlation between the wine’s quality and the price. So, the question we seem to be asking is, how do we assess the value of a wine. Now we are onto something, clarity should come along shortly. Step away from all these definitions and remind yourself that wine is first art, then science. As a result, it will always evoke as many emotions and opinions as there are people, or more specifically, palates. Look around you, there!

When you buy a wine you pay not just for the liquid contained; a lot of other costs figure in this price. The price of a bottle also has some brand value — traditional house, boutique house, reputed winemaker, fancy packaging, prized vineyard, limited exploitation — which you are paying for as part of the price. Buying a bottle of wine is about a lot more things than just the wine you drink.