Some would argue that it’s getting harder to find value for money in wine. Others reply that it is about time that wine found a price approaching is real value. The first opinion is that of most consumers, the second that of most winemakers. What we can all count on is wine’s continuing increase in price. Barring unmitigated disaster on the export market, the present rises are not temporary. Grape prices will not fall in the short term, demand will not slacken and costs of production, presentation and marketing will continue to climb. The grape grower is making hay today like never before. Prices are astronomic. In premium areas the growers’ loyalty changes with each vintage, as the producers begin their bidding. Long-term contracts are the catchword. A new and highly-publicised Yarra Valley producer was able to woo away the grower of another with a five-year contract indexed with inflation, based on the current exorbitant prices! You can’t blame the grower, for like everyone else, they’re out to make a living. You can’t blame the producer, for you can’t make wine without grapes, for the time being anyway. And if producers have committed themselves to long-term supply contracts with distributors, that makes their life even harder. The poor yields in south-eastern Australia from the 1988 vintage will only exacerbate the situation. So grape prices cannot fall. What then, about demand? The export market is truly the bete noir of the local consumer. There would be a dozen or so leading Australian companies with huge export orders they cannot fulfill. We are just beginning to tap into the American market. Crocodile Dundee II has just been released, there is another America’s Cup soon, World Expo is in Brisbane and Greg Norman is due for another major. Australia will not become any less popular. The only danger is that too many tourists will come here and spread the awful truth about our inadequate standards of service and the visitors’ tax. What about costs of production? You guessed it. Imported French barrels are now about $800 per hit, so for a wooded chardonnay, for instance, there’s often about $1.50 or more of wood alone in each bottle, regardless of margins and returns on investment. Packaging costs are likely to increase as well, for with increased exposure on the world stage, local producers are going to have to lift the appearance of many of their wines. You can bet on more lead capsules, longer corks, four-colour labels and wooden boxes – the cost of which have to be passed back to the consumer. Marketing is hardly likely to become cheaper. The wine industry is facing a declining market (in quantity) at home, so the inevitable result is a greater bunfight for sales. The beer industry is the perfect model. Cut back on Government charges and marketing expenses and it would probably be cheaper than hot water. So what do we look for when trying to rationalise wine quality and pricing? Lesson One is to remember that there is not necessarily any relationship between the two. The so-called premium Australian sparkling wine market is a fine example. And without pointing the bone at our very fine collection of small wineries, the larger ones all realise that if the quantity of a particular wine exceeds a certain amount, then they have to drop the price in order to sell it. This is not to be confused with discounting, but simply acknowledges the fact that beyond a certain volume of wine, you have to sell it at least once to the same person if you are to sell out. The answer is clear – the price must encourage repeat sales. Smaller wineries, or else smaller runs from big wineries can afford to ignore that consideration. Your first consideration is to decide what you want to spend. It is still a fallacy that you have to spend above ten dollars to get a wine of real quality. Individuality and cool regions do cost more, but there are some large-production wines of immense quality and value below that price tag. But now I am beginning to talk about wine quality, and how do you measure that? This is the $64 question, and I want to spend the remainder of this article, and the next couple, discussing this question. To put it simply, wine quality relates to flavour, balance, fruit character (we can’t ignore what wine is made from), its conformation to a particular style, and its absence of faults. All these need explanation – see forthcoming issues. There is one aspect worth mentioning, for it is possibly the key issue that separates a perfectly sound, flavoursome and well-balanced wine from one that is simply outstanding, and that factor is complexity. Great wines are complex wines – you can’t ignore it. They may be delicate, fresh, integrated, clean, mouthfilling etc etc, but they have to be complex. And what is complexity in wine? A multitude of different flavours. Try counting them. The best wines always have more, which is why writers like me often drift into apparent dizziness by listing some of them. Flavours are the most important thing. Tune in next issue for some of the good and the bad.
