What does price mean on a bottle of wine

The first question that should come to mind is “what is the difference between a 20 dollar bottle and a 50 or 100 dollar bottle?” Simply it is all about the complexity of the flavors and whether or not the wine is aggressive or smooth. Wines have various flavors that can be perceived while drinking the wine. First is the smell. Taste is in great part determined by smell. So the bouquet needs to prepare your mouth for what you are about to taste. The tip of your tongue will pick up certain flavors, then the palette and finally the residual wine will have a more delicate after flavor.

A good wine should not have a hard bite. Usually this is an indication of a wine that needs to breathe to allow the tannins to attenuate. A red wine should also not have sweet and fresh fruit base, this is usually an indication that the wine needs to age more. There are red wines specifically designed to be very fruity, they are Novello (new wines) and some Barbera. Finally its all about balance, the flavors should not contrast, instead they should compliment each other.

The more a wine meets these criteria the more it will cost. Usually because flavor, smoothness and balance require selecting grapes (less available product), longer aging periods, and various time consuming processes (increased labor and storage costs). Generally if you do not drink 50 $ bottles of wine do not purchase a 100 dollar bottle. Most people will be happy with a 15-30 dollar bottle of red wine and special occasions can mean a 45-60 dollar bottle.

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