The answer is YES…but WHAT CONSTITUTES A LUXURY WINE?
Melee Grenache 2010. Rated 93 points for 24.99. Napa Valley, Ca. Bought at Costco.
Let me WINE all I want! This was a long read so I condensed it as much as possible (from an article by Rod Philips ‘Into Wine’) so you get the picture.
Being offered a premium wine for $12 a bottle might sound a bit like being offered some prime swampland at a knock-down price. Premium has the ring of quality about it, and many people might well think of premium wines as including first-growth Bordeaux and Super Tuscans, wines that often sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle on release, and much more for older vintages.
Reserva 2007 from Spain rated 93points and a fantastic deal from Costco (in Tucson) for only $9.99. You just can’t beat that!
Infact, a $12 bottle of premium wine is a common proposition in many wine stores because the world of wine segmentation (the division of wines into categories for marketing purposes) often defies common sense. Although premium wine sounds like it would be high quality, it is actually the bottom rung of a ladder that has super-premiumand ultra-premium above it. But there are no standard definitions for any of these categories. See guide below.
Categories make these wines sound like the choices you get at the gas station, and they have nothing to do with quality, but all to do with price. Listen to this: a premium wine that over delivers for its price could be of higher quality than some super-premiums. Now I don’t think that’s the same for gas….just saying so you don’t go filling up your tank with the cheapest quality thinking you’re getting better (but it does make matters confusing).
Luxury is a word with multiple meanings and connotations, and definitions vary socially and culturally. Applied to wine, it is no more easily grasped than when applied to other commodities. Still, luxury is gaining currency in the world of wine segmentation, as demonstrated by a panel on “the future of luxury wine” at a recent New York wine exhibition. Even though it will be deplored by those who resist seeing wine as a commodity akin to other consumer products, luxury seems set to become entrenched as a category within the global wine market.
Tribunal California North Coast Red – bought in Vancouver for $20.00 A delicious tasting wine for great value.
General guideline: Lifford wine agency (one major Canadian wine agency), uses $12 to $17 as a guideline for premium; while a study from Australia’s University of Adelaide defines premium as a wine costing $2.50 to $7.50 (U.S.) before tax – between $4 (U.S.) and $12 (U.S.) retail, including tax and markups, in Australia. Lifford uses $18 – $35 to define super-premium and more than $35 for ultra-premium, while the Australian study sets $12 (U.S.) retail as the starting point for super-premium wines.
I can attest to this because having spent a lot of time in the U.S. (drinking wine of course) I know you can get a damn good bottle for $12 – at Costco or Trader Joe’s no less.
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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