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Worth the wait: Price is an indicator of wine's longevity

Suzanne Grumko's wine column: Expensive bottles are made to be aged

Date published: 9/21/2005

I'd like to thank Bill Hoyt for inspiring this week's column.

He asked why anyone would pay $100, $500 or $1,000 for a bottle of wine.

It's a perfectly valid question. It's also a question with so many answers I hardly know where to start.

The most expensive bottle of wine ever sold was a 1787 Chateau Lafite. At auction, it sold for $160,000. But was it any good?

Of course not. It was totally undrinkable.

It is now part of the Forbes Collection, purchased for its historical value. Once owned by Thomas Jefferson, himself an avid oenophile, it was brought back from one of Jefferson's many trips to Bordeaux.

Does price really dictate quality?

Absolutely not.

Can it be used as a rough guide?

It can, but it is somewhat unreliable.

Price can be a vague indicator of quality, a much greater indicator of a wine's longevity.

If you pay $10 for a bottle of cabernet, you may very well have an enjoyable cabernet to drink with your pot roast when you get home this evening.

Paying $500 for a Chateau Lafite 2000 means that you may have a wonderful bottle of vintage Bordeaux. But it's not a bottle that you should drink with your pot roast tonight. Or tomorrow night.

The simple rule is that these big, heavy, young wines are made to be aged. Opening such a wine early doesn't allow for development within the bottle. You will have a harsh, tannic wine that needs to soften. Only time can do this.

None of this means that an expensive bottle is a waste of money. Far from it.

These bottles cost more for a reason.

Usually a low yield will command a higher price.

Specifically the scarcity of a particular vintage can do wonders for wine values. Chateau Petrus, a Pomerol with less than 4,000 cases made annually, consistently commands a high price, despite the fact that Pomerol is an unclassified region of Bordeaux.

Another reason for high prices is the skill of the winemaker.

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Date published: 9/21/2005