Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:

> Hello Mark;

Hello, Nils, and Happy New Year to yourself and Xina from Jean and myself.

> In a few of your descriptions, you talk about a good quality for price (not
> that exact wording), however, you don´t say how much the wine in question
> costs, except at the end, you mention an interval of USD 35 to 60 (being in
> my never very humble opinion between the level of 'Ouch' and 'that REALLY
> hurts').

Sorry about that. I didn't note down the prices of the various offerings (in
truth, I was struggling just to keep notes, period: too many distractions)

>
> I´d be curious to learn what you consider a fair price for the products in
> question. For reasons unbeknownst to me, US wines tend to be very expensive
> in Sweden - entry level wines selling for SEK 130 (c USD 16) etc - so I´d
> like to know what they cost at the place of origin!

I'd say that I consider a price of USD10-15 reasonable for a regular cuveé
white, 15-20 for a "reserve" bottling that merits the name, 15-20 reasonable
for a red intended for near term drinking, 15-25 for a "vin de garde" and
25-35 for a luxury bottling. This is not to say that I won't pay more, but I
would have to be convinced of the quality before paying any more (as I do for
some of my favorite wines from France).

These cutoffs are of course entirely subjective and YMMV. My definition of
"reasonable" price for a wine has also increased as my income has. However, a
useful standard of comparison is wines from other countries: we can get most
good NZ SBs for USD15-20 (barring Cloudy Bay) and regular cuveé bottlings from
Alsace and the Loire for the same price. Austrian GVs run a bit more money,
but can still be had for around USD20. We can also get good quality CdRs, Cru
Beaujolais and wines from the Midi for USD12-18, and Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux
for a little more (USD15-25). Burgundy is always the bank breaker, but even
so good "Bourgogne" bottlings (e.g., Claude Dugat) will cost USD30-40, which
competes very favorably with the Reserve Pinot Noirs we were tasting in
Oregon.

HTH
Mark Lipton