On Fri, 26 May 2006 06:53:17 -0700, miles > wrote:

>Daisy wrote:
>
>> Does anyone know if these views have any value? I have had very
>> acceptable chardonnay from the Napa in the USA frequently, but have
>> personally found it about double the price of the same quality New
>> Zealand or Australian chardonnay.
>
>Prices are based considerably on supply and demand. A winery with a
>well established name will usually get a higher price for their wines
>based on name. Gallo for decades made cheap jug wine. Everyone knew
>Gallo as a cheap low end wine. When they started putting out mid level
>wines their prices were much lower than comparable wines. Nobody would
>spend top dollar for Gallo with decades of jug wine brand association.
>Many years later Gallo is being accepted as a decent wine producer and
>their prices are slowly going up.
>
>I have tried a few inexpensive (< $10US) Australian chardonnays and have
>not found one thats acceptable to me. I do drink mostly reds and have
>found many Australian low priced good wines. The decent low priced
>Australian reds are about the same price as acceptable California reds.
> I do think it's mostly supply and demand that effects prices. In the
>USA California wines are generally going to get a higher price than
>comparable quality imports.

$US10 is around $NZ17 and I would expect to get a very acceptable
Marlborough sauvignon blanc for less than that. We have just bought a
case of Silver Medal sauv.blanc for $NZ10/bottle and it is a flagship
wine, being served in the Business Class section of Air New Zealand.
It was a cancelled export order apparently (the winery is Tohu).

I thoughtthe last Gallo chardonnay recommended by a local Californian
that I sampled was very ordinary indeed and it was over US$15/bottle!
Have you tried any New Zealand chardonnays? If not, and you can get
hold of some, try Te Mata (a Hawkes Bay winery that exports) or Milton
in Gisborne (Milton also make an excellent Voignier) - or any NZ
chardonnay that has Gisborne as its grape source. I understand from
people I know in the industry here in NZ that our top internationally
acclaimed wines from exporting wineries have great difficulty making
inroads into the USA except via mail-order - and any small boutique
winery here can offer that (and many do). Of course this may improve
one day as volumes increase.

I don't much care for Australian chardonnays either - but there is the
occasional white burgundy that is reasonable. We mainly opt for
Australian brands if we are looking for reds (good cab.sauv. from the
Coonawarra and shiraz from the Barossa) and occasionally Yalumba
voignier. Brown Bros reislings are quite acceptable.

My son-in-law says it is the property developers in northern
California that have put the price of CA wines so high. This won't be
supply and demand.




Daisy

Carthage demands an explanation for this insolence!