Old World Palate

I recently read this great post on Slate that summarizes the growing fear that China's surging demand for big name wines will drive prices through the roof.  The idea is simple.  The demand for high end Bordeaux and Burgundy is already high, and estates like Chateau Haut Brion and Chateau Lafite cannot magically make more land to produce more grapes and therefore release more wine to meet that demand.  Most winemakers in sought after regions are making as much wine as they can and probably ever will without compromising their standards or somehow acquiring new land in their region (ask a winemaker in Burgundy how easy that is.  But before you do, you may want to beef up on your French cussing). So now add the thousands of wealthy Chinese collectors to this market, and now we have an unprecedented number of wines poised to break the $1,000/bottle mark.  Granted these are all wines that were prohibitively expensive to begin with, but remember the Chinese market is in its infancy.  Only 30 years ago, America was in a similar situation where serious wine lovers would hardly touch a wine if it wasn't from a venerable region like Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne.  Our consumption of anything above American jug wine, Liebfraumilch, and basket Chianti was very low.  And today Americans are in a full on renaissance of education and demand.  Wines from small producers in relatively unknown regions such as Savoie and Puglia are coming in and thriving even in my small state of Arkansas. American consumers are becoming very savvy and I suspect the Chinese will follow a similar trend as long as their economy remains stable and the middle class is allowed to grow.  What this means for me and you (assuming you are not Chinese) is that the skyrocketing prices expected for well known collectibles could be extended your local $15 Languedoc reds, $25 Oregon Pinot Noirs, and $20 Mosel Rieslings.  China has the population to make those prices a distant memory, but as Slate points out they also have the arable land to mitigate a great deal of that demand.  Wineries and vineyards there are small and young, but the potential for quality winemaking seems real enough. And honestly there is so much wine out there to drink, I believe there will always be undiscovered gems to find on the cheap.  It may become harder and harder to afford names you recognize, but I find hunting through unusual regions and obscure winemakers to be at least half the fun.