Why is Gaja's wine so expensive??

[Thomas]

Ah! Grapestuff, you touch on a delicate subject. Just a couple of days ago an Italian wine salesman was "educating" me on why so many Italian wines taste like California wines. His reasoning: the old days are over, when the producer aged the wine BEFORE selling it. Now, it is too expensive for the producer to do the aging, and so we are asked, as consumers, to pay not only for the wine, but for its future potential, and we do it because, apparently, we are told it is right and just.

In my opinion, we should seek wines that are ready to drink now: leave the guessing game to those who have the money, the time, and whatever else it takes to finance someone else's business.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 05-27-2003).]