Quality or Value….
Can the terms 'great wine', 'good value' or even 'cheap' really go together? It depends what you are looking for. For the budget buyer in UK spending an average £5 (€7.25) on a bottle, the answer is probably no. Take away UK duty and Vat, and that £5 bottle has cost just £2.97. After marketing, advertising, packaging, shipping, storage and the retailer’s margin, the actual wine is worth just a few pence.
So how can popular 'value' wines be made to sell at these prices? Firstly, they are produced in very high volumes to satisfy the needs of big retailers. In this context, wine is no different from any other commodity that provides production economies with scale. Secondly, production techniques are used to keep costs down in much the same way as a hand-made product always costs more than a mass produced alternative. New World producers are very good at this, using artificial enhancements to maintain consistency such as putting flavoured wood chips in the maturing wine to give an 'oaked' finish.
These methods are not allowed in France, and vineyards such as those on our lists which consistently produce the best examples of their type, will not compromise to meet the demands of own-brand or 'pile-them-high, sell-them-cheap' warehouses. We are not saying that you can't buy a very palatable wine at this level, but you need to be aware of exactly what you are getting for your money.
If you are prepared to pay a little more – perhaps up to £10 (but at least two to three times that in a restaurant) – then your wine should be in a different league. But pay the same amount at a vineyard in France and you can be assured that almost all your money is going on quality wine rather than to the government and middle men.
In other words, there is a big difference in quality between buying 'cheap' and paying vineyard prices. Getting quality wine is not necessarily about how much you spent, but more about where you choose to spend it.