Blog.EmealsForYou

Finally a Good Thing – A Happy Rant

July 30, 2009 at 9:05 am Leave a comment

Finally a good thing out of this economy; at least good for those of us who drink wine.  Not so good for those wine producers, distributors and shippers.  According to an article in the New York Times, The Pour by Eric Asimov, there is a glut of wine grapes on the market; make that really good wine grapes.  Growers have an abundance of grapes, with prices  down 1/3.  While this article focuses on the California market; I am assuming with the global economy, the effect should reach most of the wine producing countries.

A quick note as to how small wine producers price their wines.  There really is no scale or book to follow, they simply figure what is the highest price they can get for their wines and then go to market with that price.  Larger producers have established their “brand” and pretty much stick to the same price year to year unless they have a really high rated product year.

So what does this mean for us, the everyday wine drinker and weekend drinker?  First of all price point;  our usual wine is $15 and below; with most of us it is $10 and below.  We find wines that we like and can afford and constantly search for the next “find”; a really good wine at a great price.  With the glut we will begin to see “boutique” wines drop in price affording us an opportunity to try many wines that typically would be out of reach.  Secondly, those “branded” wines will start to show some price relief in the above $15 categories.  Previously when we saw a cost reduction at our favorite wine store it was because of some climatic problem that produced inferior wine.  Now we have the opportunity to drink really good wines, reduced due to the glut, at a price point we can almost afford.

Cheers!!!

Entry filed under: Rants, Semi-Rants and Non-Rants. Tags: $10 wine, affordable wine, cheap wine, grape glut, grapes, wine, wine producers.