The problem with people, as one eminent writer put it, is that we know the price of everything but the value of nothing. And this fine observation is the best definition of what the French call savoir-faire.
Now it’s not entirely incorrect to use price as a measure of quality but it is rarely a measure of true value because we always pay a premium for a brand name. But price is easier quantified and understood than worth. Napoleon followed this precise idea when he classified the wines of Bordeaux in 1855. An economist might see his utile application of supply and demand to the process but centuries later, the wine world still debates his actions.
And yet it doesn’t stop critics today rating wines and conducting blind tasting competitions to gauge which is the “best”, given it is so subjective. Add to this the ever-changing nature of our personal tastes, and we have quiet the riddle of what makes a wine truly valuable.
That said, if I had to rattle off my top three precious drops in the last few months, these would be it.
- Le Pavillon du Chateau Margaux: Bordeaux has one thing going for it in that the great stuff there is truly legendary. Chateau Margaux’s second wine strikes a great balance between price and pedigree, allowing us a bottle that won’t break the bank but will go down as a memorable sip for any given setting.
- Cirillo Estate 1850 Ancestor Grenache: This grape often gets overlooked but not when it comes from the hands of Marco Cirillo’s hands, who does all sorts of magic with his Grenache vineyards which will soon be two centuries old!
- Sandhi by Rajat Parr: The story of sommeliers-turned-winemakers often have, pun intended, bitter endings but not this one – one the world’s most acclaimed sommeliers makes some of the best expressions of Chardonnay (and Pinot Noir) that side of the Greenwich. Again, superb value for money but, given the limited run, just hard to come by. So, once again, what is the value of a good wine? Priceless. It is more than just the taste, the memory it evokes. Famous critic Robert Parker, when once asked what was the difference between a 99-point wine and a 100-point wine, had tidily summed up with these words, “It’s the emotion of the moment.” And that is the value of a great wine, it lingers long after the last drop has been poured and, with time, the taste only grows fresher.