Wines for the Hard Times

Our friend Eric Asimov, over at The New York Times wrote an excellent piece on the economy and cutting corners on wine last week. The article, "Modest Luxuries for Lean Times," serves as one part expose on the nature of wine collectors (and their almost unstoppable need to overspend) and one part guide to saving a few bucks during the economic turmoil. He breaks down the nature of quality versus affordability - and ultimately determines that the best of both worlds typically falls between the $10 and $20 mark.

Perhaps the best aspect of the article is his gift for explaining something that seems pretty complex (wine collecting) in a way that isn't hard to process at all. His reason why bottles in the ten to twenty dollar range are you're best bet:

"It more or less comes down to status and economics. These days, wines under $10 are generally the result of mass production and economies of scale. Wines made in that manner can be decent but are rarely exciting. Wines made on a smaller scale by vignerons have far greater potential to excel."

Short, simple and to the point. There's a reason he's writing wine for one of the biggest papers in the country. Follow the link to read the entire piece.