FT.COM/MAGAZINEOCTOBER19/202019 41
•CôtesduRhônerouge
•Bordeauxcrus
bourgeoisandthelike
•Loirewhites, especially
Muscadet
•Beaujolais
•AltoPiemonte
•Barbaresco•AltoAdige
•Germanwhites
•Greece
•Portugal
•SpanishGarnacha
•SouthAfrica
•ChileH
aveyou noticed how
expensive wineis
becoming?For thoseof
us in Brexit-tornBritain,
it mightbe tempting to blame
it on thedecline of the pound,
particularlysincesomuch ofthe
wine we import comes from the
eurozone. But wine-price inflation
is aworldwidephenomenon,
and it appliestowinesfromthe
bottomto the top of the scale.
In the past few years –thanks to
that plummetingpound,successive
dutyincreasesand, significantly,
the factthat the Britishwine
market has at last startedto
shrink–evenUKsupermarket
priceshavebeenescalating. The
big retailers need to maintain
turnover, andthe £5 bottle has
becomeadistantmemoryfor
thosewhowanttheirwineto have
any character; £8 or even £10
has becomethe new normal.
Withnotableexceptions–the
Germansand Dutch,for example
–other winedrinkers tendto
be muchless penny-pinching
thanus Brits.Bycontrast, it can
seem as thoughcertainChinese
and US buyers actively seek out
highpricetags on bottles. Until
recently, salesweresoaringin
both countries, thoughvolume
salesare slowingdown now.
Thisdoesn’tseemtobeputting
any sort of brakeonprice risesat
the top end of the scale,however.
Youonlyhavetolookatthe
remorseless risesofthe Bordeaux
first growths,emblematictrophy
winesthat can easilycost £500a
bottle. Theyhavebeenactively
sold as luxurygoods. And,just like
the LVMH stablemates of someof
them(notably Ch Cheval Blanc
and Ch d’Yquem),producersare
busytryingtoforgedirectlinks
withthe end buyer ratherthan
continuingto rely on Bordeaux’s
many-linked distributionchain.
Nowthat Burgundy has become
the heightof fashion,the region’s
mostreveredwines–grandscrus
from the top-drawerproducers–haveleapfroggedBordeaux
first-growth pricesinthe past
few years.Abottleof Domaine
ArmandRousseau’s Chambertin,
for example,would cost afour-
figuresum –exceptthat it would
rarelybeoffered by the single
bottle. It would muchmorelikely
be tradedbythe stratospherically
pricedcase on the fine-winemerry-
go-round,escalating withevery
deal,perhapsnevertobedrunk.
Thispriceinflation has
percolatedright down the
Burgundianhierarchy.Atleast
one Londonfine-wineimporter
blamesthe internet.Speaking off
the recordfor fear of losinghis
precious allocations,hetold me:
“Theproblemis that theycanseewhat theirwinesare selling
for all overthe world now, and
theywant abigger shareofit.”
The days whenproducersadded
amodestpercentageto their
production costsarelong gone.
Acrucialfactor in all this
ambitiouspricingis thatnowadays
the number –and wealth –of
people keen to buy famouswines
is considerablygreaterthan it was
even 20 years ago.Aproducer
with areputationknows that if
abudget-consciousBritishor
Americanbuyer snubstheirtrophy
wine,therewill be acollector in
Asia,Russia or Brazilwhowill
be only tooglad to takeupthe
slack.Andtheywill probably
open ratherthanhoardit.
The successionof short vintages
(withlowyields)in Burgundythis
decadehas coincidedwith arapid
rise in demand.Withnot enough
Burgundytogoround,the better-
known producersin, say, the
Rhôneand fashionableparts▶Winesthatseemunderpriced
–fornow‘Trophywinescan
easilycost£500abottle.
Theyhavebeenactively
soldasluxurygoods’Raisingyourglass
Jancis
Robinson
Wine
Forglobalprices, see
wine-searcher.com.
Youcouldalsotry
searchingforGV(good
value)inthetextofthe
175,000tastingnotes
onthePurplePagesof
JancisRobinson.comAsimaginedbyLeonEdler