Wine is similar to any other commodity that is traded and the final wine price is influenced by many factors such as the cost of production, the scarcity of the product, its perceived status and its value. Winemakers have the option of creating their specific wines for low cost consumer consumption or – if they access to better quality grapes – a high end product.
The cost of wine is dictated by several factors:
- A wne producer may elect to make their wine utilizing lower yields or higher yields (a yield is an expression that is used to assess the quantity of grapes or the volume of grape juice that is produced per geographic area). This helps to ensure the utilization of more robust flavored grapes.
- There are some wine makers that might choose to age their wine in oak barrels rather than steel vats which adds a lot to the price of the wine.
- Some makers choose to have their fruit harvested by by hand while others will bring in a mechanical harvester.
Most, if not all of these added costs will be recovered in the established final selling price when the wine reaches the market. This gives some insight as to the reasons why a wine from a quality producer will consistently sell at a higher price compared to wine that is produced in bulk for consumers.
What’s a better value; low cost or more expensive?
Wines that are high quality typically are more costly than lower quality wines. As already mentioned, the growing methods and the manufacturing process will impact on the final cost.
Although wine that is more expensive is usually of better quality, the value is determined by the buyer, because everyone’s tastes vary.
Quality wines are often allowed to mature over a long time period so that they can reach their best potential. When time passes and the wine itself is drunk by consumers, those wine bottles that are left in small numbers become very rare and become worth a great deal of money, with its worth increasing year by year. Some high quality wines are only produced in small amounts each year.
At the end of the day, wine prices vary because of their production costs and time and material used to create them. If a wine lover is passionate about quality wines, they may be willing to pay for the rarity of an expensive bottle, yet for someone who is just in search of a bottle to go with a barbecued steak, a less expensive bottles may be more appropriate.
