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The NYT’s Freakonomics pointed me at something I think we’ve all suspected for years – Expensive wine is only worth it if you’ve either trained a highly educated palette (and we’re talking lots of practice here), or you’re one of those people who just like’s pouring money into glasses so other people can see your glasses full of cash.

I don’t buy the highly expensive bottles (I’n not that rich, nor that trained), but when other people have been kind enough (or when I’ve drunk too many cheaper glasses and am in a suitable bar), I have indulged and come to the same conclusions. But I’ll add a corollary – on average, very cheap wines can be hit and mostly miss, especially in the realm of red. The value curve has it’s peak at about, for me, £10 to £15 a bottle.

Now, I certainly don’t think you can’t get decent wines for less (I have, do, and continue to), nor that every “mid price” bottle is better (some are dross). Just that if you do your research, that price point has the widest selection of bottles that taste well above their price range, without seeming ostentatious.

Note that I’m talking about wines bought from a store, not a restaurant. Wine by the bottle with a meal starts at about that range (and normally they’d have paid about a tenth of that for it).