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[Thomas]

Moff, I suspect the $80 wine you talk about is an Ice Wine. The reason for the high price is twofold. First, to produce the wine you must first leave the grapes on the vine well after maturity, which means they dry out and lose juice volume; after that, you wait for the proper conditions for ice to encase the grapes, setting them in an intensely rich state of dry concentration of all their elements, i.e., acids, sugars...Secondly. they are handpicked, and many grapes do not make the cut. This is a labor-intensive process that doesn't happen every vintage.

Since juice to grape ratio is low on these kinds of wines, and since they are labor intensive, they are expensive. They are also quite sweet.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 02-20-2003).]