If you pay more for wine is it necessarily better?
And what exactly is fine wine?
Fine wine is rarely cut and dried nor easy to simply define. Most people consider it posh or expensive and generally unattainable. But where does intrinsic quality come into it? And can’t judgements on a wines quality be highly subjective? In the Old World, a lot of it comes down to a historical reputation often built up over centuries of experience. That’s how Appellation Controlée or the Italian and Spanish equivalents evolved. Certain regions and areas within them produced consistently better wines so commanded higher prices. There was in the past a much bigger distinction between everyday table wine and wine from a specific geographic region.
Now there is no reason to tolerate poor wine. With modern winemaking and viticulture the gap has narrowed. Wine price can result from supply and demand, rarity value, vanity pricing, – either on the part of the producer or consumer! With duty at £2.16 a bottle and VAT 20% on top, cheap wine is never going to be the best value as much of the price is taken up by tax. My hunch is that if you pay 15 quid, you should expect something that could be considered fine. We put our retailers to the test. Show us your £15 favourite and by way of comparison, its £7.50 ish younger brother. How did they fare?
Wackus Bacchus
REDS
Les Chartrons Bordeaux 2014 Waitrose £7.99
Bright ruby red, shy sandlewood aroma, soft juicy fruit attack, nicely structured smooth finish. Classic Claret.
Chateau Moulin La Bergere Saint-Georges Saint Emilion 2014 Waitrose £13.99
Mellow red, lovely restrained tobacco, on the nose. Rich silky palate. Layers of flavour, shows complexity and class. From a tiny family producer.
Haut Vignoble Bordeaux 2015 £7.50 M&S
Bright youthful hue. Fruit-driven nose, soft juicy palate. Modern well-made delicious Claret for everyday drinking.
Saint-Emilion Christian Moueix 2014 £15 M&S
Deep intense ruby, delicate cedar aromas. Rich and concentrated palate, lovely elegance and superb complexity from an unoaked red. The class you’d expect from the owner of Chateau Petrus.
* WB favourite
WHITES
Chateau Moulin De Launay Entre-Deux-Mers 2015 Coop £6.79
Pale lemon, clean celery-salt bouquet, fresh and zingy on the palate with lovely texture. Crisp finish.
Clos Floridene Graves Denis & Florence Duboudieu 2014 Coop £18.99
Amazingly complex citrus and white asparagus nose. Rich and minerally full-flavoured palate. I’d forgotten how good top white Bordeaux could be, but this is from one of the best white winemakers in the world.
* WB favourite
Doudet-Naudin Chardonnay 2015 Coop £6.99
Shy nose, soft round, peachy attack on the palate. Simple, clean fruity French Chardonnay.
Henri Clerc Pouilly-Fuisse Veilles Vignes 2012 £15.49 Coop
Medium gold, toast and matchstick (+tive) nose, rich, complex vanilla and stone fruit palate. Long textural finish. Classy White Burgundy.