Quality costs only a couple of quid extra
Shortly after the 2000 budget, the average price of a bottle of wine bought in a shop was £3.62. Duty was £1.16 a bottle, which meant the combined cost of duty and VAT was £1.70, leaving £1.92 for everything else. Today, the average price is £4.35, duty is £1.69 and the combined cost of duty and VAT is £2.34, leaving £2.01 – just 9p more – for everything else.
It doesn't take a mathematical or economic genius to work out that a decade's compound inflation on glass, shipping, labels, etc, not to mention the effect of sterling's recent collapse, is not going to be covered by 9p. Or that the main casualty is the money spent on the actual wine inside that average bottle. It's a shortfall even supermarkets' sharp buying practices, and the hit many producers have taken to remain on the shelves, can't paper over. Result: we're not drinking as well as we used to.
Why have we failed to persuade people that spending a couple of pounds more will buy a much better wine (because a higher proportion of the money is spent on what you actually drink)? I can't believe this is all about tight household budgets: people seem to have plenty of cash to splash on high street caffè lattes, mineral water and other sundries.
This is about priorities, and perceptions. Somewhere we lost the sense of excitement and romance, the idea that uncorking a bottle is An Event. Instead we behave as if wine is some sort of crude alcoholic fuel, a staple that must be purchased for as little as possible. Supermarkets are largely to blame for instilling the idea that wine should be evaluated on price, not taste, by piling it high, on special "deals" that reduce its value.
As a wine journalist banging away on this subject for what seems like the millionth time, I feel an abject failure, too. But I will say it again: yes, I can find you a decent bottle at £4. But, oh, how much more pleasure, excitement and, yes, value, there could be in one costing a few pounds more. Try Fragoso Merlot 2009 from Argentina (£5.99, Marks & Spencer; 13.5% abv): not my usual thing but how delicious! Aromatic, free-flowing, fresh, it delivers layers of flavour instead of the claggy clod of wet clay that merlot sometimes feels like. Tesco Finest Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008 (£8.99, Tesco; 13% abv) has a light step and summer pudding fragrance. Domaine Jomain Bourgogne Chardonnay 2008 (£9.99, down from £10.99 when you buy two, Majestic; 13% abv) is grand for its appellation; there's real richness and savour here.
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