Not all wines are created equal
I remember pouring a sample of wine for a man in a rural Saskatchewan liquor store. His attire suggested that he was no stranger to working with animals and soil in sunshine and wind. I explained a little bit about the wine, then he knocked back my 1 oz. sample and pronounced: “Wine is wine. All tastes the same.” Before I could catch myself I replied something like, “Yea, just like any cut of beef from any cow is all the same. Beef is beef.” He glared at me. I definitely got his attention. Why is some wine more expensive than other wine? Is there really that much of a difference? Here are some thoughts on why we pay more or less:
Bulk wines are just that ……bulk. There’s no pretence of families gathering to bring in the harvest by hand, then celebrate around the small press while eating baguettes and laughing. No, this is factory. The grapes will usually be from younger vines that are minimally pruned, often chemically fertilized to produce as many grapes as possible. Here, especially extra careful selection is trumped by the need for quantity. Often bulk wines are sourced from different vineyards and from different countries with a central location for mixing the juice and bottling. Bulk wines almost always have increased levels of sulphites added to preserve the juice. These are usually your boxed wines and bottles under $12. A boutique wine refers to wines that are usually made in smaller quantities and demand much more attention to detail. They may come from large or smaller wineries, but resources have been allocated to the production of very special wines. Special wines can only come from special vines.
The weather, the vine’s age, vineyard management and how much labour is employed to care for the vines all affect yield. (1) We understand weather, good and bad years in harvest and crop quality here in Saskatchewan. Likewise in the vineyard. (2) Generally the older the vines, the reduced the yield but the more concentrated the flavours. Harvesting 70 year old vines to get enough grapes for a bottle of wine will take longer. To intentionally reduce the yield, vintners often clip early in the season. (3) Vineyard management is about all the decisions and actions around trellising, pruning, leaf coverage, irrigation, the application and kind of fertilization (organic or other), type of harvesting (hand or machine or both), type of terrain –steep, flat, etc. (4) The quality of the wine starts in the vineyard and always under the careful tutelage of people. How many people are required to do the work required and how fairly they are paid will affect the final bottle price.
Some wines are stainless steel fermented and bottled fairly quickly. Some wines are aged in expensive oak barrels for 3 months, 6 months, 24 months! A “crianza” designated red wine from Spain, for example, means that it has a minimum of 2 years aging with at least 6 months in oak before it is released. No two palates are precisely the same and no one need be embarrassed about personal wine preferences, but obviously, not all wines are created equal.