Premium Wines
Learning about wines and wine terminology is no small feat. Grasping the concepts of "terrior" and "appellations," separating the "brut" from the "sec," and figuring out that yes, white Burgundy is Chardonnay, can leave one reeling a teensy bit. Then comes a word like "premium." Does it mean something specific? Is it a wine-making term? Or is it simply a marketing catch-phrase?
Well, it's relative. When it comes to wine, there are three interpretations of the word "premium." The first is the supermarket interpretation. On store shelves, those bottles of wine that contain 750 ml (one's standard bottle size) and which cost more than $7 apiece are "premium" wines. If it costs more than $7, it's a premium wine. If it costs less than $7, it's a "value priced" wine. Technically speaking then, premium wines can run the price gamut from anywhere from $7.01 to several hundreds of dollars per bottle.
Winemakers have their own interpretations. If a winemaker makes several categories of wine, then those wines that require more care and time to create are their "premium" selections. However, an exceptionally fine winemakers' "ordinary" wine may be far superior to a run-of-the-mill winery's "premium" offering.
In short, "premium" is not a word that most wine purchasers need to concern themselves with. Used highly arbitrarily in the industry, "premium" is not a reference tool that most wine purchasers will find helpful. However, you can rest assured that we don't sell any wine at The Organic Wine Company which doesn't meet our minimum standards for excellence. If you want specific tips, sign up for Veronique's monthly newsletter (a great favorite among our clientele!) and remember that we always make "wine of the month" selections, highlighting the best and brightest new discoveries.
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