Have you ever tasted an expensive bottle of wine and then thought that it was no better than your usual favourite tipple or not worth the price differential?
At this month’s wine-tasting we tasted 3 different pairs of wine varietals – chardonnays, pinot noirs and shirazes. The total cost of each pair of bottles was no more than $90, with one bottle being around the $30 mark and the other around $60.
The tasting was blind and members were asked two questions:
- Which bottle do you prefer?; and
- Which bottle is the more expensive?
The pairs were as follows:
- A 2023 Beechworth Wine Estates Chardonnay ($29) from Beechworth Vic and a 2024 Fighting Gully Road Chardonnay ($50) also from Beechworth
- A 2024 Polperro Pinot Noir ($60) from the Mornington Peninsula Vic and a 2025 Spring Vale Melrose Pinot Noir ($27) from the Freycinet Coast, Tas
- A 2023 Hentley Farm The Beauty Shiraz ($67) from the Barossa Valley SA and a 2023 Sons of Eden Marschall Shiraz ($25) also from the Barossa Valley.
And the results!!
- The majority enjoyed the Beechworth Wine Estates Chardonnay best and also thought it was the most expensive, however it was in fact $21 cheaper than its rival, providing great value for money
- The majority enjoyed the Polperro Pinot Noir best and also thought it was the most expensive and it was. $33 more expensive that its rival, showing that maybe you have to pay more for a good pinot noir
- Interestingly the majority preferred the Hentley Farm The Beauty Shiraz but thought that the Sons of Eden Marschall Shiraz was the most expensive when it was actually $42 cheaper, which shows ????!
So, what does this all mean? Not sure but more research is clearly required! Cheers!!