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$60 Pinot Gris
Written By: Curt Christiansen | Issue: 2017/06 - June
Every year I try to attend a certain wine trade show that attracts many winery owners and winemakers. It’s always fun to meet the winemakers. Many are behind-the-scenes people and can be eccentric to say the least.
Eccentric or not, there’s been an annoying trend with many of the superstars of winemaking – Overly-priced, unpopular wines that the winemaker has produced for some inconceivable reason. I walk to one table to taste a trophy California Cabernet. The winemaker wanted me to try a new wine they had added to their selection. It was a Pinot Gris that will retail for about $60.
They are basically saying, “I made this wine so the industry won’t think I’m one dimensional and it’s worth three times more than any other Pinot Gris because it has my label on it.”
That is code telling me that if I don’t buy some of their overpriced, average-quality Pinot Gris that will rot before I sell a single bottle, I won’t get any of their Cabernet.
So next time you’re out to dinner and a particular wine seems overpriced, it may just be overpriced, or the owner has been coerced to buy some expensive ordinary sister wine that he will eventually cook with.
Drink well, Curt Christiansen
