Wine:30

Expensive Wine?

You may wonder, when you’re standing in the wine aisle or glazing over your favorite restaurants wine list, why a certain bottle of wine might be $5.99 and another bottle, $59.99. There can be a lot of factors that go into the cost of a bottle of wine. The following is a brief list of what expenses go into making that bottle you’re about to enjoy.

Grapes and where they are grown: Typically the single biggest cost of winemaking is the cost involved in growing and harvesting the grape (including labor). The price of a grape can include the variety, appellation, yields and harvesting methods along with the supply and demand for that grape. With land prices in the more prestigious wine growing regions (like Napa Valley) that can average closer to $100,000 an acre, this will obviously add a greater cost to a bottle than an acre in the Columbia Valley, which averages around $15,000 an acre. Add to that the cost of planting at roughly around $25,000 an acre and you can see where the juice going into the bottle creeps up the scale for what the winery needs to make a profit.

Equipment: There is a fairly long laundry list of necessary equipment a winery needs to produce the wine, including crushers, destemmers, pumps, hoses, stainless tanks and the ever recurring cost of the wooden barrels. With a wine barrel that can cost anywhere from $300 to $1,000 a barrel (and, factor in that they can only be used so many times before they lose their characteristics), you can see where those big, powerful wines that require long oak aging get their prices.

Other factors: Throw in the time needed to produce wine, the packaging it is put in, and your sales and marketing needs. Also, don’t forget the number of middlemen the wine travels through to get from the winery to you. Now you can understand where that difference in price can come from. So, when you’re deciding whether or not to spend six bucks or 60, just remember there may be something in the saying that “you get what you pay for.”

Wine Notes:

For this week’s article, we tasted some of Beringer’s different levels of wine. We did come to the conclusion that the more the cost the better the wine. However, value for what you got from each level was a different story. Beringer makes some fantastic wines at all levels!

• Beringer California Collection Cabernet Sauvignon:

Appearance: Ruby red and clear

Aroma: Blueberry and chocolate aromas

Flavors: Picks up a bit of cherry notes, very fresh

Finishing Notes: Medium finish and pleasant, inviting another glass

Where To Try: White Gull Inn and Mission Grille

Where To Buy: Econo Foods, Pick n’ Save and Main Street Market

• Beringer Founder’s Estate Cabernet Sauvginon 2006:

Appearance: A dark cherry red color

Aroma: Dusty berry and cherry tones

Flavors: Mostly cherry flavors that are bright and enjoyable

Finishing Notes: Modest finish with main flavors carrying all the way through

Where To Try: Summertime Restaurant

Where To Buy: Econo Foods, Pick n’ Save and Madison Avenue Wine Shop

• Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005:

Appearance: Dark, almost inky red

Aroma: Raspberry and cherry in the nose

Flavors: Adds chocolate, dark berry and currant in an intense fashion

Finishing Notes: Turns elegant on the finish with a hint of herbaciousness

Where To Try: Mission Grille

Where To Buy: Main Street Market and Madison Avenue Wine Shop

Wine Wiki: Trockenbeerenauslese

The name for the highest category of German and Australian Rieslings in means of intensely sweet, dessert style wines. Often called “TBA” and made from individually selected botrytized affected grapes.

Information about “Where to Try” and “Where to Buy” these selected wines was provided by the local wine purveyors and vendors. If you happen to also serve or sell these wines, email [email protected].

WINE:30 is written by Karl Bradley and Jody Wuollett. Karl is the general manager and self-proclaimed “sous” sommelier for the Mission Grille. Former restaurant executive and Door County native Jody is happily under-employed as a Mission Grille food server and a member of the local band Northbound. They are both long time residents and first time contributors to the Peninsula Pulse.