Pricing - What does it mean?
I understand that this is a somewhat rhetorical question but one that I have been pondering for a few days now. Earlier in the week, I was looking around at Mark Squires' BB on Parker's site, wasting a few minutes that I will never get back. Among the various tasting notes and random discussions, one thread immediately caught my eye:
More importantly though, I am curious as to how the price of a wine effects the preception one gets from it. Obviously, pricing is a very important factor. Price is what dictates whether I have Duck Confit or chicken wings, as I did last night with a beautiful Vouvray as well as a Priorat. But to use price as a qualifier seems, well rather silly.
At the risk of sounding naïve, I honestly look at wine (at least the stuff I sell) as a work of art. And those who make the wine, I truly consider artists. As such, I find it ridiculous that one would take the approach as was used in the thread. Is one Picasso 'better' than another because it costs more? Could you ask the same question about musicians who charge between $60 and $90 to watch them preform? I would think not.
I understand that most people in the wine business are also in the business of making money. Some moreso than others. I guess I have always assumed that (remember, I sell only Old World wines) what drove the price more than anything was simple economics. The old 'Supply and Demand' game. Hence DRC is released at $1500-$1800 per bottle. And the allocation for Georgia/South Carolina was three bottles.
I'd be curious to hear from readers about this.
Topic: Favorite Cabs in the $60-90 range.Straight-away my mind started racing. First thought: What a curious way to qualify wine. I'll admit that I (and probably most others on the board) pretty much knew what wines this guy was talking about. And reading the discussion all the usual suspects were in attendance: Shafer, Pride, Ramey, Hartwell, Montelena, etc... I guess that I'm a bit curious why he didn't just say 'Favorite Pre-Req Trophy Cabs' instead.
More importantly though, I am curious as to how the price of a wine effects the preception one gets from it. Obviously, pricing is a very important factor. Price is what dictates whether I have Duck Confit or chicken wings, as I did last night with a beautiful Vouvray as well as a Priorat. But to use price as a qualifier seems, well rather silly.
At the risk of sounding naïve, I honestly look at wine (at least the stuff I sell) as a work of art. And those who make the wine, I truly consider artists. As such, I find it ridiculous that one would take the approach as was used in the thread. Is one Picasso 'better' than another because it costs more? Could you ask the same question about musicians who charge between $60 and $90 to watch them preform? I would think not.
I understand that most people in the wine business are also in the business of making money. Some moreso than others. I guess I have always assumed that (remember, I sell only Old World wines) what drove the price more than anything was simple economics. The old 'Supply and Demand' game. Hence DRC is released at $1500-$1800 per bottle. And the allocation for Georgia/South Carolina was three bottles.
I'd be curious to hear from readers about this.
1 Comments:
Christian:
I think is a function in large part of supply/demand equation. A winery that comes out of the box with 200 cases of a $90 cab and sells it all out without discounting before the next release has probably priced it correctly, if not too low. This isn't necessarily a question of quality
The question that most people ask however is, "is that cab worth $90"? Clearly it is to those who bought it. But even this is not a determination of quality.
I think, however, if you can sell relatively large amounts of this cab, say 10,000 cases, at $90 then you really have to start giving the producer the benefit of he doubt on quality. What would spur such demand? Absent some "Quirk of Buzzness" you have to presume that qualitiy is driving the demand to a large degree.
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