The discovery and savouring of new bottles is the glue that keeps the secondary school woodwork project of my life together. But, after rent and bills, groceries, shampoo, therapy and a Disney+ subscription I said I’d never get, there’s not much left to spend on the one thing I enjoy the most: wine. If you’re reading this, you may well feel a similar way.
I’m just back from a book tour, and at every stop I was greeted by a raised hand asking the same question: how much should I spend on a bottle of wine? Through this question, I think we’re really asking several. How little can I spend without stripping my tongue of all sensation? How much do I have to spend until the quality isn’t reflected in a high price tag? Where is the sweet spot in the quality-to-cost ratio?
One thing I always point to when I’m posed this question at a talk/in the street/while my dentist has his hands in my mouth is the Bibendum Vinonomics report. It releases an updated report a few times a year, usually after a new budget announcement or the introduction of a new duty on booze. The latest (released last year, but I’m sure another is imminent) explores what the latest duty increases mean for various styles of wine, but one thing I always highlight is an intriguing little graphic midway down the page. It shows, at different price increments, how much of the cost of a bottle goes towards the actual wine itself, once the excise duty, VAT, packaging, marketing and logistics costs have been deducted (with a median ABV of 12.5% as a control). For instance, just 4.5% of the cost of a £6.31 bottle (or 29p) goes towards the wine, but that rises sharply to 14.5% for a £7.50 bottle (£1.08) and further still to 21% for a £10 bottle (£2.10) and 31.6% for a £20 one (£6.32).
This is the so-called “premiumisation” argument – in other words, you get what you pay for. And while those stats speak for themselves, such rhetoric makes my eyes roll to the back of my head, not least because most people just can’t afford to shell out £20 a bottle on their everyday drinking. (It’s a similar argument to the one people make when they spend £250 on a haircut or £18 on a fry-up.) Value, in this situation, is enormously relative.
It also depends on what kind of things you care about. For me, a wine needs to be delicious, yes, but it also needs to come from a winery that pays its workers properly and furthers a sustainable agenda, which is becoming more and more difficult to sell at under the £10 mark. So, for myself, value is found around the £10-15 mark – not so cheap that questions arise about quality and ethics, but not so expensive, either, that you have to sacrifice toilet paper in your grocery shop to make it work.
Four great-value wines at my price ‘sweet spot’
Aldi Unearthed Specially Selected Custoza Bianco £9.99, 12%. A peachy northern Italian blend of trebbiano toscano, garganega and trebbianello. (Unearthed is Aldi’s range that seeks to champion emerging wine styles and regions.)
South By South West Treeton Margaret River Chenin Blanc 2022 £13.95 (on offer) The Wine Society, 12.5%. Chenin blanc fermented in old barrels from the iconic Leeuwin Estate. Think candied nuts and salted-butter toast.
Domaine de l’Amandine Séguret Côtes du Rhône Villages 2021 £14.90 Tanners, 14%. Abundant aromatics and berry fruit typical of this picturesque medieval village in the Côtes du Rhône.
Cockburn’s Fine White Port £14 Tesco, 19%. It’s port girl summer: nutty, floral and fruity. Serve with good tonic or over ice.
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Hannah Crosbie is a wine writer and broadcaster. Her book Corker: A Deeply Unserious Wine Book, is published by Ebury Press at £16.99. To order a copy for £14.95, go to guardianbookshop.com