Wine terms: Cheap wine
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
Say cheap wine to someone in the business, and they get insulted. I used to make that mistake all the time. Say cheap wine to a wine drinker, and their eyes light up. Isn ?t that why most of you are here?
That ?s because wine drinkers understand what industry types don ?t: That cheap wine is about more than a price. When it ?s done properly, it ?s a style of wine that is consumer friendly, well made, and offers value. Equally as important, cheap wine isn ?t associated with any of the snotty, winespeak, score-driven attitude that affects too much of the U.S. wine business.
It ?s also the Wine Curmudgeon ?s reason for being. After the jump, a few thoughts on what makes great cheap wine:
You won ?t see the words cheap wine in too many wine dictionaries or lists of wine terms. But it ?s a term, nonetheless, just like varietal and appellation. And, frankly, it has more relevance for most of us than phrases like toasty and oaky and cigar box aromas. I ?ve been pondering this over the last couple of weeks, given the recession, the industry ?s reaction to it, and the role of wine writing as the world changes around us. I ?m going to write more about this over the next couple of weeks.
For now, though, it ?s enough to know:
? Cheap wine mostly costs $10 and less, though I run into wine drinkers all the time who think $10 is a lot of money. And there are some $12 and $13 wines, mostly because of exchange rate fluctuations, that can be included.
? A cheap wine is honest and made for people to drink, not for reviewers to gush over. The late Todd Williams of Toad Hollow fame used to say that he never bothered to submit wines for scores because the people scoring the wine didn ?t respect it.
? Cheap wine is about enjoyment, not pretense, Tuesday night Chinese takeout instead of $300 post-nouvelle cuisine. If I may be allowed to quote the great Alfonso Cevola yet again: ?I am feeling overwhelmed by the direction of the wine business. California is churning out expensive wines that are loaded with wood and fruit. Bordeaux is pumping out investor-class wines for hedge-fund managers that no longer exist. ?
? Not all wine that costs $10 or less qualifies as cheap wine. Too many producers put a cute label on inferior wine and hope that the label makes up the difference, marketing wine like toothpaste or laundry detergent.
I feel much better now, Jeff
I agree, there is definitely more focus right now on “cheap” wines.
I always find it funny when I get criticism for talking about a “cheap” wine. There is clearly a lack of understanding of the value of ???cheap??? wine.
This is what drives me crazy. It’s OK to like cheap wine now because we’re in a recession. But does this mean that it’s not OK once the economy gets better?
I bought a bottle of Uvaggio Vermentino for $11 and a bottle of an Italian red, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba for $15, last week in Sacramento. Juicy, wonderful wines. Cheap? You bet! And loved ’em all night long!