Dear Ms. McCoy,

Readers of Zester will know that quality French (and other) wines often command prices well beyond $42. What I wished to point out was the practice by some winemakers in developing economies of applying first-world prices. The great danger in all such international enterprises is that the producing country will develop more and more of a colonial economy, producing goods for export that are unaffordable by the local populace. Salary levels in Slovenia are not those of, say, California. By paying U.S.-level prices, the American consumer is abetting the distortion of a globalized wine market that, in this instance, seems to lie in the hands of a winemaker who is exploiting a novelty in order to cash in on a tendency among international consumers to ignore the actual costs of production. The “bored and restless” characterization was meant for those same consumers, who spend without a thought to the effect of price inflation on the traditional wine market, i.e., the wines from France and Italy that awakened the rest of the world to the pleasure and importance of wine as a part of daily life. Wine enthusiasts should not forget the most fundamental and appealing element of terroir: local community, and a correspondingly local price tag. We drive up wine prices at our risk and peril.

It is only natural that a winemaker “spends hours on end” in his cellar. What is so remarkable about that? I suspect that what the consumer is paying for here is not a winemaker’s passion (since when did passion become a commodity?), but rather the operating expenses that come with global marketing. I for one place my hand firmly on my wallet whenever the words “artisanal,” “meticulous,” and “passionate” start flying thick and fast in a context of globe-trotting. For an equally high-flying price is sure to follow.

A broader issue, possibly unrelated to Movia Lunar, that I also wanted to raise is the Brussels subsidy game, in which investor X, who may or may not have grown up in the country in question, takes over an old family property, pays a wine consultant, hires low-cost local labor, and then turns out a “modern” local wine with a new-and-improved price tag. Meanwhile Brussels (i.e., European taxpayers) foots much of the bill, all for the sake of protecting traditional local agriculture—which of course in this instance is anything but.

Sincerely,

David Jester
Paris

Hi Jon and the person who posted as ``a Guest,''
First, thanks to you both for commenting. Jon, thanks for your response to David on the costs of producing Ales's wines.

To the guest. . .
There's a lot going on in your comment. So let me try to reply. It seems to me that commenters are trying to remind me that not everyone can afford wines that cost $40+, whether imported or domestic, and are encouraging me to recommend wines that cost less. Which I have done with my Thanksgiving wine of the week posted on Zester Monday. It's an imported wine (from France) that costs less than $20 and is absolutely terrific.

I agree with you that most American wines imported into Europe are, sadly, way too expensive. However, many of those aren't that much cheaper in the U.S. Which is why some of the best wine buys on U.S. retail shelves are imported.
As for sending all our wine production to China. In fact, California wineries have been very slow in marketing their wines in China. At the Hong Kong wine fair earlier this month, they were a small presence, especially compared to Italy, which occupied nearly one quarter of the booths at the fair.
As for the global financial crisis, I'm not sure what your point is in relation to wine. This week, as Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope that those who are lucky enough not to be struggling financially will be thankful, and spread some of their own good fortune to others.
all best,
Elin McCoy

Dear Sirs,
Please stop with the whining ( no pun intended) about the prices of imported goods. Do you know the prices europeans have to pay for goods imported from America's ( North not so much since you guys externalized all your productionto China)? A lot.... And since you have plenty of vinyards in US try some of your somewhat local wines.
Since you also "produced" the global crisis due to your inneficiency to consume only what you can pay for ...THANK SOME HIGHER POWER THAT YOU DON'T STARVE TO DEATH !

Hi David,

I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to leave feedback on Elin's thoughtful article. First off, I need to agree with you - $42 is not an inexpensive price to pay for a bottle of wine! Ales' wines admittedly fall into the premium priced category. However, there is a method to his pricing. These wines epitomize artisan winemaking. The production is low, the yields are limited, the vineyard practices painstakingly meticulous, and Ales spends hours on end in the cellar to execute on his number one passion in life - winemaking. On top of this, as Elin points out, the production methods for this style of wine are not cheap. Thankfully, the fruit of their labors pays off in the end result. The wines are as complex and ageworthy as they are unique.

We only hope you'll give the wines a taste if the opportunity presents itself! Thanks again.

Best,

Jon Troutman
Domaine Select Wine Estates
U.S. importer of Movia

Dear David,
First, thanks for writing in. You are bringing up an important point about prices and the fact that much about tasting expensive wines is ironic. . .

Consider pre-auction tastings. The prices of some of the wines I recently sampled in Hong Kong -- Burgundies and Bordeaux that cost hundreds of dollars a bottle -- were even more absurd and make Ales Kristancic's Movia wines look affordable.

Unfortunately, most of the good ``orange'' wines out there are not cheap, even in their countries of origin. The price of the Movia in Zagreb, for example, is $35, the price in Germany is $26.

But I disagree over your characterization of sommeliers who champion these wines as ``the bored and the restless.'' The way consumers learn about new styles of wines is frequently from wine geeky sommeliers and retailers who champion them.
all best,
Elin

Dear Ms McCoy,
Apparently Mr. Kristancic is also a fierce proponent of absurdly priced wines. I'll bet he's playing the Brussels agricultural subsidy game, too. The irony of a WWII bunker as the site for "hip sommeliers" to taste a $42 orange wine of a "luminous aliveness that's hard to describe" should not have escaped you. After last weekend's sobering Armistice Day commemoration, I am saddened to think that wine, so fundamental to European cultural history, has fallen into the hands of the bored and restless. Forty-two dollars in a country like Slovenia is a considerable amount of money. You owe it to readers to keep local economies in mind when you write about wine.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
David Jester
Paris