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I have talked about the following wines in this Video:
2017 Chateau de Rieussec Carmes de Rieussec Bordeaux France – 25 US $
2020 Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay Auckland New Zealand – 30 US $
2019 Kumeu River Maté’s Vineyard Chardonnay Auckland New Zealand – 55 US $
2020 Michelini i Mufatto Mendoza Balsa de Piedra Red Blend Valle de Uco Argentina – 19 US $
2017 Raventos I Blanc De la Finca Brut Nature Catalonia Spain – 24 US $
2020 Domaines Chermette Moulin a Vent Les Trois Roches Beaujolais France – 23 US $
2017 Foundi Estate Estate Red Xinomavro Naoussa Greece – 14 US $
The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 – 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 – 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 – 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is a soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 – 69: A below average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 – 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.
To give you a little bit of context let’s first talk about wine prices
Wine is one of the very few products that have an enormous price range. You can buy fermented grape juice for one Dollar or, essentially a bottle of the same product for hundreds of thousands of Dollars.
Granted, these expensive wines are often old and have a special story attached to them, but they are also “just” fermented grape juice.
If you pay a little more money for a bottle of wine the winemaker generally has more money at her or his disposal to make better wine, improve the practices in the vineyard and maybe expand their business.
But there is a point when the correlation between price and quality gets very loose.
So when the connection between the price and quality loosens, it is most of the time because of the demand for a wine. Many top-quality wines are from a specific vineyard and you cannot grow the production depending on demand. So, if a limited amount of wine achieves a very high level of demand the price might skyrocket. I am going to give you alternatives today – wines that do not yet see high demand and therefore offer great bang for the buck.
The first way to save money is to go for the less famous neighbor. If you like a specific style of an iconic wine it might make sense to buy a bottle of wine from the neighborhood. Especially if it was made in a better vintage.
For example, Chateau Yquem is one of the most famous estates in the world. 2018 currently retails for 200 US$ for half a bottle and it was rated 93 points by Vinous – granted other publications have scored it higher.
43 Comments
Love your channel so very much but unfortunately in Australia, by the time the boutique wines get here they are ridiculously overpriced for example at Dan Murphys wines store – Do Cava Gran Reserva De La Finca 2019 – $545.00 for a case of 6 bottles. Moet NV and Veuve Cli.. NV are actually cheaper. Some amazing french wines I purchased overseas for 12 Euros on a short trip, are over $70 AUD here in Melbourne, and thats even if you can find them. Australian government wins, not the consumer.
Great video again. My favourite wines in the range quality for no money come from an old wine making country that makes fabulous wines, North Macedonia. You don't find them that easy in Belgium but they are great bargains. Also the Languedoc-Roussillon and Southern Rhône are my preferred regions for quality fruit bomb bargains. Looking forward to your next video. Cheers!
I’ve become a big fan of yours Herr Baum! You cover subjects so well and without dragging it out. Appreciate your short intro too! Thanks for the humor you add also.
I agree about Kumeu River. At all levels their Chardonnays are great value. Especially the Hunting Hill vineyard.
Mmm..no South Africa wines here surely a problem? SA definately massively bang for buck
My key great value options are Tasmanian Pinots and dry Rieslings, Cabernet-based wines from Margaret River/Wilyabrup second tier established producers, and cooler climate Syrah, Shiraz Viognier and Pinot Noir from established producers in the Yarra Valley, Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Adelaide Hills and Heathcote. Eden Valley, Hunter Valley and Canberra/Murrumbateman are more expensive, but still offer similar bang for buck.
Great video. The Rieussec is indeed a bargain. For pinot noir I usually shop in New-Zealand, Germany (spätburger and sometimes also frühburgunder) and even Romania. Chili has excellent alternatives for Bordeaux and sometimes Rhône (Cono Sur, Montes, Luis Felipe Edwards etc.), South-Africa for syrah and also some very decent chardonnay wines. I think today Portugal offers bang for the buck, unique blends are to be found and therefore maybe not quite comparable to wines from other countries, but very good price-quality balance. Underrated regions like Friuli and Bolgheri (Italy) and Bierzo and Rías Baixas (Spain) offer bang for your bucks as well. Still buying quite some wines from southern Rhône (Lirac, Cairanne etc.). They're still quite affordable.
Can you do a video on sine qua non please. I had a bottle of the 2015 sine qua non eleven confessions and I felt it was muted. Not anything close to the ratings that people have been giving it. Maybe it just me.
Whether it’s one mark or very many marks it doesn’t matter because they’re still marks.
Please review Paso Robles.
Comparing new Zealand Chardonnay with a Montrachet is beyond obscene. The only tip that matters here is going gorgeous the less prestigious neighbour indeed. Montrachet vs St Aubin for instance.
Thank you 🤗 that was very helpful 🇬🇧
Great video again Konstantin 👍🏻 what is, in your opinion, the tilting point (price wise), where demand is determining the price in stead of better quality?
Raventós i Blanc was the elder of the siblings of the Raventós Codorníu brand. He split when Codorníu went over commercial. In 2012 they announced they would leave the Cava appellation as the designation was becoming known for cheap wines. They are still producing the same Cava styles, but they are making some great wines.
Excellent podcast! Being adventurous can save money, challenge one's tasting affinity, but sometimes difficult to obtain.
Here's my non-commercial wine review of a Cabernet Sauvignon form Kosovo:
http://nhwineman.blogspot.com/2021/02/stone-castle-vineyards-and-winery.html
That NZ chardonnay must be very good for you to recommend at that price. Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 2014 is around the same price and I would be surprised if the NZ wine was better.
I like the Sideral wine by Dassault and San Pedro.
German and Austrian wines offer some grape price vs quality … especially the Sekt offers some real steals and quality deals 😂🎉🍾
More of those videos!
Just order 10 boxes of the xinomavro(for me and some friends)! Love these kind of videos, thanks for sharing
Thank you Konstantin – I really enjoyed this video. For the past few years, if I want a great champagne-style wine, I look for bottles from Sussex England. Great quality and SUCH fun to discover.
Please can you do a video about Portuguese wine? And also a video just dedicated to Port. Thanks
Try the Garnacha/grenache from Serra de Gredos – unbelievable minerality from very high altitude area
I disagree that Beaujolais is an equivalent of Pinot Noir. The aroma profile is very different. Stylewise they are similar. A typical Beaujolais tastes like a mixture between strawberries and banana unlike a Pinot Noir. Btw. I am a huge Beaujolais fan. I always have to have a Beaujolais at hand otherwise something is missing.
The White Coudolet de Beaucastel is an amazing white Cotes Du Rhône. Drinks like a $75 white Rhône for $12 Us
A very great sparkling vine in my opinion is Geldermann. Its the same process and grape variety as the „real“ Stuff just from the Kaiserstuhl in Germany
Cannonau di sardegna
Thank you!
great price quality ratio with bulgarian wines to be honest. Especially bordeaux blends, worth 15 euro, during a blind taste, nobody will be able to guess the country and quite often is confused to be bordeaux. Of course, people have a bad image of Bulgaria and normally wouldn't give it a chance, but will stay with the known producers. Thanks God American market is not prejudiced.
Chateau fleur du casse 2 ieme cuvée. Incredible red wine. 42$ here in canada. 2012, 2018-19 are amazing. Not so much the 2014 milesime.
Got some in the cellar to open in 10-15 years to taste the evolution.
Ausgezeichnet! Keep up the good work!
What’s a good price replacement for high end German Riesling?
I'm slowly discoring Greek wines and I love them. I don't buy very expensive wines (I never go above £40 in a supermarket, with an average of £15 ) so at present I don't need to go for cheaper alternatives.
Love some cava, and the bubbles from Gruet in the states have some real gems.
Danke für die interessanten Alternativen. Der Carmes de Rieussec und der Moulin a Vent Les Trois Roches gehören schon eine Weile zu meinen Favoriten
55 buck wines are not cheap…but ok.
Great video as I am just getting into exploring the world of wine! Please consider doing a top value budget wine for under US$10 video. You know, something decent for everyday heavy drinkers or people looking for good cooking wine who can't afford to spend $20 every other day.
Really like this video as i feel there are always underrated wines for way cheaper. Do you ever review South African wines as i feel there are brilliant value for money (biased of course)
Chateau Cantemerle is a very good 5th growth Bordeaux for less than the price of a good second wine from the major chateaus. Generally very good with al the characteristics of Bordeaux!
once i see kumeu and carmes rieussec on there, i know i have to try the rest
It’s simple… just go to Portugal and drink their wines.😂
Its new Zealand… dont use french accent for the real wine. French never make anything right. Thats why other countries perfect it and do it right. Its an insult to new Zealand to use french accent to their wine
I picked up 6 full bottles of the 2015 Rieussec for less than $50 a bottle.