Making the Right Choice: Wine Pricing and Perceived Quality

As a novice wine lover, how much can one rely on price as an indicator of quality in wine? I know that when I am at a loss in the face of endless options at a wine store or when staring at a wine list (read: book), I often resort to price as a filtering mechanism.

                                             source: Wine Folly

While some of this is simply a function of practicality (each consumer has an individual willingness to pay for wine depending on their purchasing power, the occasion, and a variety of other factors), differentiating on price in the super and ultra-premium bands $20-$50 is tricky. Additionally, given the 3 -tier system and the truth behind markups, how does one know what they are paying for? To what extent is the price due to supply chain and distribution vs the quality of the wine. Furthermore, after learning about grand crus and its impact on pricing, despite variability in quality and improvements/degradation over the decades, I find myself wanting guidelines for how to interpret what is signaled by price and how to make a smart choice.

Price and quality must be connected in some way, for example, if a wine originates from a small winery on another continent, the markup probably reflects something special about the wine (e.g. that it was hard to obtain, was produced with care and expertise in small batches/from low yield vineyards). However, how does one take the next step to understand the association between price and quality/taste? To what extent can a bottle's price be used as a proxy for how much someone might like the wine?

This next note "culled from the collective wisdom of sommeliers and other wine professionals", did not help to clarify the situation:

""Restaurants will likely jack up the price by two to three times the retail price, but the more expensive the wine, the less the mark up," Soltani told INSIDER. "So even if you are on a budget, don't pick the cheapest wine on the list. I would go for the second cheapest. Also, one bottle of wine equals about four glasses. But if you pour tasting pours (two ounces), the wine will go a lot further."
(Our experts disagreed on whether or not the cheapest or second-cheapest was the worst option to order on a wine menu. If you're on a budget, it's safe to go with a cheaper mid-range bottle.)" - How to Order Wine Without Looking Like an Idiot, Serious Eats

It pays (no pun intended!) to recognize how complicated this question is given the psychological factors that feed into human satisfaction and perception of value. "Value", "quality", cheap/expensive, and what is considered to be a valid substitute for a "good" wine is all at least somewhat subjective, and therefore varies from person to person. As an example, someone who doesn't place a high premium on rare wines or the story behind a wine might be upset by a higher price, particularly if they are able to identify a lower-priced (better value) substitute.

It is difficult to ascribe "rules" to guide making wine purchasing decisions based on price. It is hard to hold anything constant given the compounding complexity of consumer perceptions and preferences, and the many ways in which the products of the wine industry can be cut and examined. To be continued!

Wine Refrigerators

Professor Rapp mentioned that she was a fan of Subzero wine fridges during the last class, so I decided to do a little research on the cost and quality of different fridges.

On Amazon, the best seller listed was a 24" $849 Kalamera model, but there were several well-rated, similarly-sized models in the ~$200 range. The "Amazon's Choice" option was a $190 Ivation model. However, that model is slightly smaller than 24".

On the Subzero website, the 24" model retails for about $4,000. That's almost a bigger brand premium than we see in the wine itself!

Finally, I took a look at some of the recommendations on the Wine Enthusiast website. They offered a couple of Wine Enthusiast-branded refrigerators for ~$500, and a couple of N'Finity options for about ~$1,000.

I looked for more information on the Wine Enthusiast website to understand refrigerator quality. It seems that under-counter units require front vents, and tend to be slightly more expensive. These are the refrigerators that can "blend into" your kitchen cabinets, rather than being standalone. Having two temperature zones (to store red vs. white wines) also increased price. Overall, I didn't see much information to justify a large brand premium -- but if any Subzero fans out there want to make their case, please comment below!

How to Order With Confidence (or) Never Choose the 2nd Cheapest Bottle

I thoroughly enjoyed Alder Yarrow’s perspective. I found his approach accessible and particularly appreciated two takeaways: first that assessing and interpreting wine is entirely subjective, and second that the importance ascribed to a given wine is largely derivative of the story/influencer reading of the juice. I came out of the talk feeling that- if I were to expose myself to enough wine- I could develop a valid opinion/taste.

However, for the time being, Alder’s talk brought up one tactical (and possibly pedestrian) question: if interpreting/describing wine is so subjective, how would you accurately order wine to your taste at a restaurant, or ask for a recommendation per your personal preferences?

Of course, if you are an expert or are well-versed in your preferred wines it may be easy to spot a wine on the list or to generalize the taste you are going for, but as a beginner, this seems challenging. It is (admittedly, sometimes) embarrassing to ask the sommelier/waiter’s recommendation for “a dry white.” 

Maybe I have a bad memory, but I generally struggle with wine lists (even with Vivino’s help). As a result, when it comes to selecting a red wine I often resort to the cabernet sauvignon on the ‘by the glass’ list or ask the somm for the most “full-bodied” red- which I generally enjoy (though that’s probably the vaguest description, confirmed by Alder’s detailed tasting card). When it comes to white wines I am lost (aside from requesting a “dry” or “minerally” white). Should I instead say that I prefer “ocean air” over “butter”? I have a feeling that wouldn’t go over well.

The words that I have used to describe my taste preferences when ordering wine differ somewhat for red and white wines but have resulted in inconsistent outputs and overall varied success (measured by whether I like the wine I ordered, how closely the taste matched what I was attempting to put into words, and the somm’s reaction to my amateurish requests). Based on some of the reactions that I have received when ordering it is entirely possible that the descriptions I have attempted may have even been contradictory (e.g. is it possible for a full-bodied red to be earthier rather than fruit-forward? I hope so…).

After class I did a quick “how to order wine” google search and found that, in-line with Alder’s comments, lack of confidence around ordering wine plagues many. There are countless articles with step by step instructions on how to order wine, including Wine Mag’s “How to Order Wine in a Restaurant: 14 Alternatives to Panicking.” While this article certainly wasn’t foolproof, I found a few tips to be encouraging, including:

·      -  “Lesser known wines (usually) mean greater value.”

·       - “Skip the second cheapest bottle.” (we also covered this in our microeconomics class) - this has inspired me to look into pricing for my next post!

·       - “Know what you like and be honest with yourself.”

·       - “New World (fruit-forward) or Old World (earthy)” - this seems like a helpful break down…but is it really this generalizable?

I will continue to look into this, and will let you know if I find anything particularly ground-breaking!