Earlier this year, scientists at Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology made headlines for an unusual wine experiment: They used a brain scanner to show that people derived greater pleasure from drinking brands they thought were more expensive, even when the samples were in fact from identical bottles.
The subjects experienced heightened neurological activity in the area of the brain responsible for pleasure.
The implication: Raising the price of a wine actually improves the flavour.
But there were two problems with the methodology, I think. The lucky subjects didn't actually have to pay for the wines; and the research was conducted before The Crash.
I'd bet if I had access to one of those brain scanners today, I could prove just the opposite. When budgets are tight and net worth is disappearing like the contents of a leaky bag-in-box, the bigger thrill comes from plunking down $10 on a bottle that tastes like $20.
I've been thinking lately about building a recession cellar, a go-to list of bottles costing $15 or less that I'm going to feel better about sniffing, swirling and slurping as my retirement plan whirls down the toilet. These wines would be impressive enough to serve even to guests (ideally from a crystal decanter so the labels don't send the wrong signals to anybody's pleasure cortex).
In truth, it's never been easier to drink down-market thanks to advances in technology and winemaking skill. Though demand for acclaimed labels has fuelled obscene inflation at the upper end, bargains abound from Argentina, Chile, Spain, Italy, South Africa, and even France.
Good buys can be found in most sections of the liquor store, but certain themes have emerged in recent years, many of no surprise to readers of this column or devotees of wine-specialty publications.
One of the biggest value frontiers is unoaked whites. If you like crisp, clean, fruity whites unencumbered by the toasty-vanilla characters of oak-barrel aging, you are getting maximum bang for your bibulous buck. No time in barrel means significant savings, both in terms of the material (standard French-oak barrels cost $1,000 apiece) and warehousing costs. Unoaked whites include most rieslings and sauvignon blancs, most Italian and Spanish whites such as pinot grigio and albarino, and almost all wines from Alsace in northern France. The category also includes a growing number of unoaked chardonnays, a wine that's usually lavished with considerable lumber.
One surprisingly good example is Leaping Horse Chardonnay (priced in Canada at about $12). Made in California by the Kautz family, which owns the better-known and more expensive Ironstone brand, this surprisingly underpriced white proves the Golden State is not just about luxury labels and inflated prices.
Completely unoaked, which is uncommon for a California chardonnay, it still manages to deliver the big tropical fruit flavour and buttery opulence of many oaked, warm-weather counterparts, but with a freshness that makes it a versatile food partner.
Though I raved about this wine almost a year ago, when the 2006 vintage was on the shelves, I'm not the only critic bullish on the brand. The currently available vintage, Leaping Horse Chardonnay 2007, was just declared a "category champion" in the 2008 International Value Wine Awards sponsored by Wine Access magazine. Each year, the Calgary-based publication assembles a large panel of cross-country experts to taste about 1,000 bottles available in one or more provinces at a price of $25 or under. (The list of winners is published in the October/November issue now on newsstands.)
Anthony Gismondi, the magazine's Vancouver-based editor-in-chief and a veteran wine critic, says one notable theme that emerged "in the dark light of blind tastings" was how well big-production brands performed. Among them: Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi Chardonnay 2006 from California (lowest provincial price $13), Torres Vina Sol from Spain ($13), Arboleda Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($13). Two other widely available whites that made the "killer values" list and would be among my own picks are Jacques & Francois Lurton Les Fumées Blanches Sauvignon Blanc from France ($11) and René Barbier Classic White ($10), a blend from Northern Spain.
