Fifty years ago the finest wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy could be purchased for under $20. In 1969 half bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild were selling at $9.95 and full bottles of Chambertin Clos de Beze and Le Montrachet were just little more expensive. Beaulieu Vineyards’ Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour was $6 at the winery; it’s now over $100. Local wine shops in major cities stocked the finest wines of Burgundy—all at affordable prices because the demand was low. Suburban wine shops in many metropolitan areas carried the full spectrum of wines from Domaine Romanée-Conti—La Romanée, La Tâche, Richebourg, and the famed Romanée-Conti itself. All at prices under $30. Today those wines cost hundreds of dollars or pounds now and are affordable only by the very wealthy.
What happened? Wine has been discovered by hundreds of millions of New World consumers who have come to appreciate wine as the wonderful complement to food that the French and English always knew. Where in the 1960s fine wine was considered a luxury item pitched to an extremely vertical market, it’s now gone mainstream and a large segment of New World populations has created a demand that has driven the price of fine wine into the stratosphere.
Value Wines Have Improved in Quality
The value wines of former decades were coarse, sweet, and alcoholic. European value wines were widely considered undrinkable by New World consumers. They were harsh, simple, and overly acidic. California jug wines from wineries such as Italian Swiss Colony and E & J Gallo were often viewed as the best wines for the price anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, they fell far short of the quality offered today in the world’s least expensive wines.
There has never before been the plethora of quality, inexpensive wines that we now see on the market. Winemakers who attend to the value-oriented spectrum today are highly trained and are making wines to exacting standards to fill that ever-expanding market niche. Wines priced under $5 are flooding the market from Chile, Italy, and Spain. Many are perfectly sound, flawless wines and extremely good values for everyday consumption. The trick: overcropped vines, mechanical harvesting, and tank fermenting. These procedures lead to decent, if somewhat monodimensional wines without noticeable flaws. No need to turn up your nose because the wine costs $2 or $3. It may well be perfectly sound, just not very aromatic or complex.
You may not find the best value wines at your local supermarket or from online suppliers because these wines are less profitable for the retail merchant. But wine stores specializing in the value-oriented market are beginning to appear. If you are lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe’s store you can find wines for as little as $3 that will compete very well to wines costing two or three times that much.
Today's Great Values
Our favorites: Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and Italian reds from Puglia, especially Salice Salentino. These make excellent “house wines” for inexpensive everyday enjoyment. They will set you back $3-5. And if you compare them to the California jug wines offered in half gallon or larger bottles, the difference is amazing. The Chilean and Italian wines are styled more like Europe than California or Australia. They are true table wines. On the other hand, if you’re making a wine punch you will look for more fruit-forward, softer wines.
In these days of faltering economics value wines are still holding their pre-crisis prices. Charles Shaw (“Two-Buck Chuck”), introduced by Trader Joe’s almost a decade ago at $1.99 is still $1.99 and we would not hesitate to use it in a wine punch.
