Found Mark Squires site (and it is very good). He uses a 100 scale ranking
ala Parker. What I didnt't understand was his best "QPR" rating. Here is
why:

I understand quality. Even with wines that are not my cup of tea (that was
lame) I judge quality in the following way, like Ann Nobles:

- Purity - no measurable faults
-Visual appeal (not sqeaky clean, but no haze)
-Aromatics, fruit, fermentation, and bottle aging
-Length
-Clean finsih
-A personality
-Balance

So I measure an Aussie wine, or an Amador Zin, or a Bordeaux by these
standards. But then comes price. Have you ever blind-tasted any wine and put
a price on it? That is the rub. Price is determinded by hectos harvested,
price of bottleing, price of marketing, and other overhead. With this in
mind, Is QPR a meaningful metric? A perfect example is Falesco Vitiano
Rosso. All parts of the wine fit together. Tasting in USD 50 range, yet
costs USD 10.99. Shafer Hillside Select tastes just as good,, yet goes for
100 USD. So what is the ratio? Both wines are great.

Rich R.

--
The journey is the reward.

"Rich R" > wrote in message
m...
> Have you ever blind-tasted any wine and put
> a price on it? That is the rub. Price is determinded by hectos harvested,
> price of bottleing, price of marketing, and other overhead.

That's a gross oversimplification of what determines wine prices.

With this in
> mind, Is QPR a meaningful metric? A perfect example is Falesco Vitiano
> Rosso. All parts of the wine fit together. Tasting in USD 50 range, yet
> costs USD 10.99. Shafer Hillside Select tastes just as good,, yet goes for
> 100 USD. So what is the ratio? Both wines are great.

First off, those wines aren't even _similar_, so comparison is rather
meaningless.

Secondly, if e.g. the Shafer is twice as good as the Rosso it's going to
cost at least 4 times as much. Pricing is done on an exponential scale, but
scarcity and demand factor into the calculation too. Gets pretty
complicated.

Thirdly? Time for a refill...

Tom S

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 23:39:14 GMT, "Rich R" > wrote:

>Have you ever blind-tasted any wine and put
>a price on it? That is the rub. Price is determinded by hectos harvested,
>price of bottleing, price of marketing, and other overhead.

Price is not totally determined by those factors. That is the the
supply side only. In free markets (and I think wine is a free market
to a great extent) prices are fixed by a combination of supply and
*demand*.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher