Why don’t all wines cost $10 or less? That’s the question in the back of our minds in this season of wine sales. The factors are many and varied, but let’s start with other material goods: The land: Many, if not most, wineries bought the acreage on which their vineyards are planted and their facilities built. The only way to recoup that money is to factor it into what they charge for their wines. In Napa, land can go for up to $400,000 an acre. One reason wines from Europe and South America often cost less is that the land either was cheap or has long since been paid for by families that have owned it for generations. The labor: From the blue-collar pickers and white-collar administrators to the sales force and highly paid winemakers or consultants, salaries and benefits generally are covered by the operation’s primary (if not sole) revenue producer: fermented grape juice. The equipment: That same formula applies to buildings (and utilities), grape crushers, fermentation tanks, bottling lines, etc.

Even for those who rent machinery, it ain’t cheap. And then there are the barrels: A 55-gallon French oak barrel can cost up to $1,500, which comes to $5.43 for each bottle that emerges from it. Marketing: That flowery prose on the back label, packaging designs, ads in magazines and on apps, and those trips vintners make to different cities — yes, even to Tundraland, and even in February — require dollars.best sweet california wine The grapes: Bulk wines — basically anything under $10 retail — come from thickly planted vineyards (yielding up to 25 tons an acre). best white wine for cocktailsSpendier wines emanate from more coveted, meticulously tended properties, where they may prune grape clusters from the vines to make the end product more concentrated (yielding one to a few tons per acre). wine online shopping free shipping india

A general rule of thumb is that a bottle of wine is a denominator of the grape expenditures: Lop off the last two zeroes from the price per ton. So grapes that cost $400 a ton should result in a $4 bottle, while $8,000-a-ton lots would be $80. High ratings: If wines get 93-plus points from Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator or Vinous, the producers can and often do jack up the price accordingly, especially if production is low. best luxury wine brands(Easier for smallish Harlan to do than for a winery as large as Beringer.) top class wine brandsAvid collectors — I like to call them “score whores” — the world over will pay often-huge premiums. best wine with chicken fried riceThat whole supply/demand thing, you know. All of the above are outlays that vary, often wildly.

Major markups at every level of what’s called the three-tier system. This setup — comprising the winery, wholesaler and retailer/restaurateur — has been in place since Prohibition ended. The winery sells to the wholesaler/distributor, which sells to the retail outlet, which sells to us. Wineries are businesses and need to make a profit. The margins they charge are quite small in the case of mass producers but can be $5 to $20 (or more) for the smaller folks. The wholesaler tacks on 30 percent, give or take, over what it paid. Retail markups generally fall in the 30 to 50 percent range, and restaurants exceed that, often greatly. So if the winery gets $20 a bottle, the wholesaler charges around $26 and the retailer $36 to $40 and the eatery, say, $50 to $75. That might sound like a lot, but keep in mind that those at the second and third tiers also have significant overhead expenses (building, storage, equipment/supplies, taxes/fees, admin and other personnel), so those markups are not all pure profit.

There is a fourth tier for wines from other countries: the importer, who also serves as the distributor. Which is why checking the back label for the importer’s name can save us money: If it’s a locally owned operation, it will be affiliated with a Minnesota distributor and will add little if anything to the markup. That’s also an upside for those rueing the margins that local wholesalers, retailers and restaurants garner: In most instances, the money we’re shelling out is staying in the community. Hey Sweden, there’s nothing wrong with the word ‘mastu... Hey Sweden, there’s nothing wrong with the word ‘mastu...When you think of the price of wine, you usually associate it with the age, right? Well, that's only partly true, at least when it comes to some of the most expensive bottles ever sold. Here are 5 price tags that will pop your cork. 1. CHÂTEAU LAFITE, 1787 — $156,450 Okay, so, yes, 1787 is ancient, especially considering this bottle of Bordeaux at this price was sold in 1985.

But don't forget, even the best Bordeaux only lasts about 50 years. Why the hefty price tag? Well, this particular bottle had the initial Th.J. etched into it. That's right, Jefferson was a hard-core oenophile. During the time that he served as ambassador to France, he often traipsed out to Bordeaux and Burgundy looking for wine for his cellar back stateside. His initials etched into two other bottles have also fetched pricey sums: A 1775 Sherry that fetched $43,500, and — ready for this? — the most expensive bottle of white wine ever sold, a 1787 Chateau d'Yquem for $56,588. Price per glass: $26,075 2. JEROBOAM OF CHÂTEAU MOUTON-ROTHSCHILD, 1945 — $310,700 Okay, so now you're confused, right? First I said the most expensive bottle ever was about $160K and now at number two I've listed one that cost almost twice that. Three sheets to the wind? See, this bottle of red that sold in 2007 was a large bottle, not a standard-size. But take a look down below at the price per glass and you'll see which is truly the more expensive of the two.

Had this giant bottle been a standard 750 ml bottle, it would have only sold for $51,783. (By the way, 1945 is considered one of the very best vintages of the 20th century and Mouton-Rothschild one the world's greatest clarets. If you ever happen upon a bottle, don't drink it!) Price per glass: $8,631 3. INGLENOOK CABERNET SAUVIGNON NAPA VALLEY, 1941 — $24,675 Sold in 2004, this Cabernet is regarded as the most expensive bottle of American wine ever sold. Inglenook is now known as Rubicon and owned by Francis Ford Coppola, who is said to keep one of them (empty) on top of his refrigerator. "It was one of the best I'd ever had," he has said about the wine. So how did it taste? "There is a signature violet and rose petal aroma that completes this amazingly well-preserved, robust wine that had just finished fermentation at the time of Pearl Harbor." Talk about seeing the glass half-full. Price per glass: $4,113 4. CHÂTEAU MARGAUX, 1787 — $225,000 There I go again.

And this is a standard 750 ml bottle. So what's it doing buried way down here? Well, this bottle actually resides in the Most Expensive Bottle of Wine Never Sold category. That's right, I said never sold. In 1989, the bottle collided with a tray at a wine dinner and New York wine merchant William Sokolin collected $225,000 from insurance! (He was seeking a whopping half a million for the bottle, which, they claimed, had also been owned by Thomas Jefferson.) Price per glass: $37,500 5. KRUG, 1928 — $21,200 The champagne record has been broken often in the last decade. In 2005, it was a bottle of Krug 1953 that went for $12,925. Then, that same year, a Methuselah (6 liter bottle) of Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 1990, Millenium 2000 sold for $17,625. Finally, the Krug 1928 75cl bottle was sold at Acker Merrall & Condit's first Hong Kong auction in 2009. Must be some sort of bubbly! More from Mental Floss... An environmental argument for boxed wine 5 fancy wine pairings lazy people will love