Price

[stevebody]

Teach,

As with most things in commerce, quality in wine is totally subjective. In general, like any business, wineries figure their overhead and then price the wines at a level that lets them make a profit so they can keep makiing wine and maybe go to the beach once in a while. A vintner or proprietor will make decisions about which wines cost more based solely on two things: the subjective quality of the wine in the barrel, which is totally a matter of their personal tastes and maybe those of a few people they bring in for outside opinions, and the past track record of that particular wine, meaning if Swanson's Alexis blend, for example, has been fetching $45 a bottle retail for five years, it needs to maintain that pricing or be considered somehow on the decline. THAT'S a lot of where you find expensive wines that aren't really all that good. Occasionally, a winery, for purely economic reasons, will have to release a wine that they know full well isn't up to their past standard or risk losing so much money that future projects or even the whole business is in jeopardy.

Price and quality do NOT always go hand in hand. That's why it's important to attend public tastings, read reviews from critics you trust, and maybe join a wine tasting group so you can experiment without courting financial ruin.

Don't ever JUST BUY ANY WINE because it costs more than the one next to it.