Coming home from a Burgundy tasting, the wife and I got into an interesting conversation (read: argument) in the car about perceived value when it comes to wines that are not really “ready to drink” upon release and are expected to improve with many years in the bottle. Certainly, in America we are often all about instant gratification which has caused some of the techniques that wineries now employ to produce the type of homogeneous wines that are readily drinkable at release, but are maybe lacking in longevity and true representation of style, variety or terroir. Don’t get me wrong, there are many good/great wines being made out there that are drinkable now, soon after release, and it’s the consumer’s prerogative to spend their money on something they will enjoy sooner than later.
Add to this that often some of these old world wines that age gracefully for years often come at a higher price. The point being made is that for the money and in this crappy economy, why would one not want to spend it on something they can enjoy now or at least in the near future instead of waiting 10 years, assuming they’re not in it for investment purposes? Helping the value equation a little bit is the fact that there are a lot of good deals out there now due to the economy and depending on vintage that you may be able to take advantage of. This means you may be able to buy an older vintage that’s closer to the peak drinkability timeframe now and reduce that wait time for less money than in the past. In the case of Burgundy, I understand you can find some fabulous wines with a high QPR (Quality:Price Ratio). But, that still doesn’t fix the fact you may still have to wait a little while for some of those wines to age to truly enjoy and experience what was intended in that wine.
If you recall from Finance class, the time value of money concept showed us that money available today is worth more than that money in the future. However, concepts of perceived value and utility come into play which include intangible benefits such as pleasure, satisfaction, or quality and everyone’s perception of these is different. To be clear, I am talking about how a consumer who is interested in drinking this wine will value it. Many if not most of these ageable wines do, in fact, increase in market value over time, but that’s not what I am attempting to describe here. Essentially, Value = Benefit – Cost and there is some level of benefit for some level of cost at which the perceived value the consumer will receive is high enough to warrant the purchase today. Time affects the benefit side of the equation both positively and negatively… in some of these wines as time increases, the resulting quality of the wine and satisfaction you receive when you drink that wine increases. However, the fact that you have to wait for some period of time in the first place, in my opinion, negatively affects the benefit for some consumers. Or, rather, you can categorize your time as a cost, possibly.
How does one rationalize the Value concept in their minds when deciding to purchase a bottle of wine of this type? Does the consumer have to be educated to some extent on what they may be missing, the romance of old world tradition, style and terroir and that good things come to those who wait?
Ed- A great question that always sparks debate.
To me, the joy of a mature wine (the depth, the flavors, the integration) can’t be found in a lot of off the shelf juice.
It is primary & some secondary / vs full on tertiary flavors.
To me, there is a totally different joy in mature juice. One that is worth waiting for.
Thanks for the post, Hardy… yeah, Jonjie and I were having this discussion with Ryan last night and I am certainly willing to wait to learn and understand what can be experienced… others, not so much
Hopefully people take advantage of the fact that some collectors are reducing their collections at the moment. It is an excellent opportunity to see where some wines can go and what makes a gracefully aged wine such an exciting prospect.
Wish I had more storage and a bankroll to age more…
I used to get comments regarding this when I was in retail. People would ask, is this wine really worth it? I would tell them, that all depends on you. Certain wines are not ready to drink upon release, or at least not what I or most wine geeks would call ready. Were they worth the wait? Again, it all depends on what you like. You have to try an aged wine to understand whether or not you will like all the secondary and tertiary flavors that emerge and to some degree, overwhelm the fruit, which will fade. It just takes time to come together and sometimes the wine will be a total bomb while it matures and of course, you never want it to get too old. My wife and I have a very small collection, many of which will sit for at least 10 or 20 years before we enjoy them. I wish I had the bankroll to age more things, but I’m happy with what I’ve got so far and what tiny gems I slowly add.
Back to the question…is it worth it…like all things wine related, it just depends…for me, yes it is…as I’ve tasted an aged Amarone that blew my (and everyone else’s) socks off and I know how much fun it will be to taste other gems.
M Cox: Thanks for the comments and YES, great idea to look for those “yard sales” of wine collections
Kevin: thanks for responding and the more eloquent response to consumers with this dilemma… you’ve got try it at least once to see what you might be missing
Great post, Ed.
I’ve actually been burned too many times when it comes to aging my wines. Maybe thats because I only buy wine from California. I’ve heard that they don’t last as long as French wines. What do you think?
I’ve gotta go with Hardy here. There are flavors that can only be gained through time that are well worth the wait. As suggested by Michael friday night, buy the “off” years and watch them develop more quickly. My experience is that great domaines make great wine in tough years, they just make less of it. The fact that these wines are “ready” sooner and they’re cheaper really helps the ole QPR argument. 01 burgundies are still relatively fairly cheap all over the auction market and are really singing right now. For that matter if you dig the perfume and tart red fruit thing you’ll love the panned 96 vintage right now.
Thanks for coming out and tasting through Burgundy with us.
Speaking purely on the question of value and time, one must consider the mystery associated with “laying one down”…. the expectant gamble at the laying and the cloudy memory at the opening. Was this a “great wine” I’ve saved until now? A gift? Why did I wait. The mystery that comes with the eventual unveiling more than accounts for the black and white “cost” analysis you present on the time continuum. A-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n is more often than not worth the price of the wait… if the consumer does not grasp that then they are likely not this wine’s rightful buyer.
Great insight guys… Thanks Ryan and MNM… I currently have an ’86 Clerc Milan and a ’99 Gaja Conteisa as the oldest wines in my cellar right now.
Recently I drank a ’79 Margaux and an ’85 Palmer which resulted in mixed reviews but a ’78 Visan CdR and ’77 Ridge Zin we had at Bern’s this summer were nice, and because of recent discussions on this topic, including this thread, I am very interested in focusing more of my efforts on finding some “gems”
Frank, not sure about CA and ageability though that 77 Ridge did well, but maybe some of the guys who have posted here can give you their thoughts
Winemaking has more to do the the ability to age vs region (CA vs Bordeaux, etc).
A ton of CA can be made to age (many still are), but also it really depends on what people like. Fruit fades / integrates with all the other shizz and it can leave people looking for power and lightning bolts seriously underwhelmed.
Price has nothing to do with whether a wine will age- Like Ed mentioned above, the 78 Visan he had was beautiful. That probably retailed at $1.00-2.00 a bottle. A comparable wine today might be $15.
I think “drink now” juice is the devil
Vinho Verde and muscadet aren’t the devil! But $130 grand cru burgundy that you never catch at its apex can seem like it is. In the end like all wine they are both just different pleasures. From my experience “banquet wine” is the devil.
Ed, I’m sorry we didn’t meet Friday as I suspect you were at the next table over and behind me. I bought some wines from that event, some which I’ll consume any time from the next couple of months to the next couple of years, but some which I would judge to be cellar-worthy for several years. I’ll have a long time with a combination of pleasure in anticipating when they will be ready intermingled with an gnawing, inpatient wish that they already were. I think to be able to “lay down” wine you have to have a pretty good capacity to delay gratification. I guess I do – I still have a Bordeaux I bought legally in Georgia when I was 19 years old. That hasn’t even been possible for probably over 25 years now.
Excuse my previous comment- It should have read “Ryan Mullins is the devil”….
Dennis, thanks for the comments… sorry we didn’t get to meet. I just went over to VWM to pick up my order today at lunch… I’ll try to hold on to a couple of them and we’ll see how they turn out.
Touche Hardy! Just sayin!