Whose Wine is it Anyway

An article by John Higgins for Derbyshire Times Elite magazine

Wine producers love to promote their big brand names and flagship ranges. These are the wines that win accolades and command the highest premium for all the skill and care that goes into making them. When a wine maker reaches the top echelons of the wine world this is a great opportunity to take advantage and save some real money. How?

Ensuring the rest of a wine makers range does not destroy the image of his premium wines is a major concern. The skill and passion of a good wine maker will always filter down the range to maintain the quality and brand image he has developed.

Domaine Thomas-Moillard is a top producer in Burgundy creating some truly outstanding wines. His 1994 Clos de Vougeot, for instance, is pure Pinot Noir at it’s very best. Silkily smooth black cherries dominate the nose and palate. A genuine bargain, comparatively, at only £42.60. A stonkingly good wine but not one that I can personally afford to drink every day. A little inside knowledge about this producer lets me know about his ‘house’ wine labelled as La Ferme du Comte. This is an over-production wine but with all the care, skill and attention being paid to the wine as goes into the Clos de Vougeot. At only £4.50, a genuine bargain for Burgundy, most drinkers are unable to taste the difference even when tasting side-by-side.

These bargain basement wines are not just the preserve of the old world wineries. Chilean, Californian, New Zealand and Australian wine makers are starting to improve the quality of their entire range to add further credibility to their premium wines. This is essential if wineries want to be taken seriously on the world stage and compete with the establishment.

McWilliam’s winery in S.E. Australia is a winery to exploit.
McWilliam’s Coonawarra Shiraz is a gem of a wine. The Coonawarra region is ‘the’ best area for grape production in Australia and their Shiraz has a big glass fruit driven nose with a green pepper and toffee finish. Already a snip at only £8.50 the same experience can be had with the McWilliam’s River Gum. To save on the expensive Shiraz grape a small portion of Cabernet is blended in to create a similar, if somewhat, smoother more relaxed experience. The use of Cabernet brings the price down to £5.00.

There are some great bargains out there and any good wine merchant will be able to find these out for you. With increased global competition and the ever-increasing emergence of the New World as serious players in the quality end of the wine market the overall quality of wines will continue to creep upwards. Always remember that skill filters down the range never up!