Bag Yourself A Bargain

The Age

Tuesday October 21, 2008

Ben Canaider

The eternal quest for quality wine at affordable cost is a conundrum Ben Canaider has savoured and overcome.

'WHAT'S the best red or white I can buy for less than $20?" This always penetrating question remains at the grass-roots of wine drinking. And it is a question that is not demographically or fiscally specific. I've been asked such advice from cash-strapped university students, mortgage-riding sales executives and even self-funded retirees just back from their eight-week cruise around Crete.

What everyone in the less-than-$20 hunt is looking for, of course, is wine with good QPR (quality price rapport.)

One could suggest that it is a wine critic's job to do the spade work and to recommend those wines in this price category that satisfy certain quality specifications. Whether consumers actually like the taste of such recommended wines, well, that's the consumer's decision. Part of the reason this price category is a minefield, however, has something to do with the different ways it is treated by the many different stakeholders in the wine making and drinking business.

To begin with, it is $10, not $20 that's the real marker. The $10rrp mark is the point at which the wine industry in general thinks "premium wine" starts. Anything below $10 is just plain wine. Add to this that most winemakers are keen - for both business and ego reasons - to make and sell wine in the super-premium, above $20 category, and you can begin to understand why the $10 to $20 section is such a confusing market.

It is no wonder then, that bigger wine companies can bang out the bargain QPR wines with more consistency than most. One company that's been doing this, both for domestic and international markets for many years, is Peter Lehmann Wines.

Lehmann's PR manager, Malcolm Stopp, says one reason his company's wines are considered good value in the less-than-$20 category relates to vineyards. "We have an enormous advantage due to our access to quality fruit from all of our growers in the Barossa. Indeed, we have more than 180 growers from all over the valley, including the Eden Valley, providing fruit each harvest. As a result we have the benefit of economies of scale due to the size of our annual crush, which in 2008 is 18,141 tonnes, our third largest crush on record. Of this 18,400 tonnes, 14,150 tonnes were for our own use, and therefore we would like to think that we can get the pick of the very best fruit for our labels each year," says Stopp.

Having good vineyard resources isn't the answer in itself, however. Angove's marketing manager, Matt Redin, thinks notions such as brand loyalty (creating it and maintaining it) are also very important. "While brand is still king, many of the larger brands in the sub-$20 market are owned by the larger corporate companies who have driven their brands hard on price to try and increase market share and they seem to have forgotten that the wines must still be good quality.

"They have seen a drop in wine quality. And they must also remember to properly service the outlets that sell their products - at least this is the feedback our (trade) customers are giving us," says Redin. "The larger corporates are now trying to re-connect with their consumer base through 'touchy feely' expensive TV advertising ..."

Which just goes to show, when indoubt, advertise.

Redin also says that more and more medium-sized wineries have catered well for the sub-$20 segment, and that one of the key factors in the quality of this category has been over-supply and cheap grapes. A caveat, however. "The prices being paid for grapes was and is not sustainable for the growers and hence all good things must end (for consumers) and prices must rise ..."

In the past three years - and in some cases even more - certain wines and brands have stood head and shoulders above the pack when it comes to the sub-$20 QPR. Reds tend to offer a more consistent rapport; and with whites I reckon you are better looking to under-appreciated varieties to find your best QPR. In other words, riesling.

The other factor worth considering relates to access. Can you actually and easily buy the wines? It is the particular failure of so many wine guides and recommendations: where can I buy it, and where can I buy it at that price in my postcode? And that's why the wines to the right have been my default position in recent times. They all cost much less than $20, and they are all sold just about everywhere. Knock yourselves out.

BEST BUYS

1. De Bortoli Windy Peak Pinot Noir - $16; pinot that tastes like pinot noir. The ultimate luncheon red.

2. Yalumba Y Series Shiraz Viognier - $12, and better balanced than more poshly priced and alcoholic "shiragniers" going around.

3. Wynns Coonawarra Riesling - $16. Often overlooked thanks to Coonawarra's cabernet thing, this white is on the mark every year.

4. Water Wheel Memsie Red - $15, and a bit of a secret. Water Wheel is a small wine company that makes very honest wine.

5. Peter Lehmann Barossa Riesling - $14, and the epitome of riesling reliability.

6. Angove's Butterfly Ridge Shiraz Cabernet - $7, and it is an Australian red blend classic. Buy it and drink it while it still exists.

© 2008 The Age

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