Money in a Bottle

Recently, a reader who noticed that the wines I’ve reviewed so far have been in the $12 range asked me if buying a bottle that is three, four or five times more expensive is really worth it.
Right now I’m buying bottles of wine under $12 for the same reason I’m wearing a $9 shirt I bought at Target. That’s what the budget allows. As soon as this blog rockets me to stardom I’ll no doubt up the wine budget. But when I have more money will I always buy more expensive wine? Nope.
There is a vast ocean of wine in the $20-$60 range, and frankly, fishing out a great bottle can be a crap shoot. The frustrating thing about wine is that paying more doesn’t guarantee you’ll like the wine more. In many cases, this is simply a matter of taste. A wine that your friend loves, you may hate. This holds true whether the wine cost $10 or $60. Similarly, if you dislike big, juicy, fruity wines, a $50 wine made in this style won’t taste any better to you than a $20 wine made in this style. And keep in mind that just because a critic raves about a wine, it doesn’t mean you’ll agree its great (since when have you liked every movie that’s lauded by critics?)
Sadly, when you’re holding a $50 bottle in your hand and debating whether or not to splurge, bottle labels and store signs are rarely helpful; if you’ve read one description about lush red berries and gorgeous ripe whatever, you’ve read them all. Your only defense is this: buy your wine in a store with employees who know wine and will help you. This doesn’t mean you have to shop in a fancy shmancy wine store. My mom raves about the “wine lady” at her local grocery store. You just need to shop in a store where employees can explain the way a wine tastes in a way that makes sense to you.
The problem with buying more expensive wine is that your expectations go way up. Many people expect the “flavor” of a more expensive and/or well-aged wine to blow their socks off, when in many cases this type of wine is very subtle. Think of it in terms of music. Drinking expensive and well-aged wines can be compared to listening to a musician perform unplugged in an intimate setting. If you’re use to seeing Eddie Vedder crowd-diving and playing loud guitar and hanging from the rafters while he screeches out songs, you might be a little under-whelmed if suddenly you see him perform alone in a small bar with only his ukulele. But as the night goes on you’ll begin to think, man, this Eddie Vedder guy can really sing. You’ll hear the subtle variations in his voice, you’ll see the expressions on his face, you’ll hear every word of the lyrics.
Right now there are three types of wine I would personally consider splurging for: Burgundy (what is there not to love about wine that smells like moldy mushrooms?), Champagne (this is one type of wine that does seem to get better by price) and wine from Washington State (what can I say, I’m loyal to my homeland).