Wine experts in the Southern Hemisphere seem to think that mid-quality US wines are more expensive than elsewhere. Personally I have found local ly produced mid-range wines purchased in the US more expensive than I am used to, but I put this down to what I perceived as a propensity for Americans to drink spirits and/or beer.
Now I find some international wine critics say that the high cost of grape-producing land in suitable areas, plus the high cost of setting up wineries in the USA is the problem.
Does anyone know if these views have any value? I have had very acceptable chardonnay from the Napa in the USA frequently, but have personally found it about double the price of the same quality New Zealand or Australian chardonnay.
Daisy
Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!
Prices are based considerably on supply and demand. A winery with a well established name will usually get a higher price for their wines based on name. Gallo for decades made cheap jug wine. Everyone knew Gallo as a cheap low end wine. When they started putting out mid level wines their prices were much lower than comparable wines. Nobody would spend top dollar for Gallo with decades of jug wine brand association. Many years later Gallo is being accepted as a decent wine producer and their prices are slowly going up.
I have tried a few inexpensive (< $10US) Australian chardonnays and have not found one thats acceptable to me. I do drink mostly reds and have found many Australian low priced good wines. The decent low priced Australian reds are about the same price as acceptable California reds. I do think it's mostly supply and demand that effects prices. In the USA California wines are generally going to get a higher price than comparable quality imports.
First, economics will dictate that there is an opportunity cost associated with decisions of this type.
Therefore eventually if a 50 acre plot of land for a winery in Rutherford is producing 15000 cases of premium wine and a annual profit of $2M.
An offer comes to sell land to a developer where the after tax proceeds can be invested and they can make $3M virtually risk free.....
Many a non corporate winery would have to think of that type of decision.---The opportunity cost.
Finally, I do think that premium wines from Napa will climb due to the valuable land costs. But perhaps wineries will open and become more recognized in other areas.....Washington State etc.
$US10 is around $NZ17 and I would expect to get a very acceptable Marlborough sauvignon blanc for less than that. We have just bought a case of Silver Medal sauv.blanc for $NZ10/bottle and it is a flagship wine, being served in the Business Class section of Air New Zealand. It was a cancelled export order apparently (the winery is Tohu).
I thoughtthe last Gallo chardonnay recommended by a local Californian that I sampled was very ordinary indeed and it was over US$15/bottle! Have you tried any New Zealand chardonnays? If not, and you can get hold of some, try Te Mata (a Hawkes Bay winery that exports) or Milton in Gisborne (Milton also make an excellent Voignier) - or any NZ chardonnay that has Gisborne as its grape source. I understand from people I know in the industry here in NZ that our top internationally acclaimed wines from exporting wineries have great difficulty making inroads into the USA except via mail-order - and any small boutique winery here can offer that (and many do). Of course this may improve one day as volumes increase.
I don't much care for Australian chardonnays either - but there is the occasional white burgundy that is reasonable. We mainly opt for Australian brands if we are looking for reds (good cab.sauv. from the Coonawarra and shiraz from the Barossa) and occasionally Yalumba voignier. Brown Bros reislings are quite acceptable.
My son-in-law says it is the property developers in northern California that have put the price of CA wines so high. This won't be supply and demand.
Daisy
Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!
DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.