Edit History

John, I agree completely. All the same, the "dilettantes" do exist. I certainly know people who otherwise do not drink much wine who will go to a nice restaurant in NYC and drop a wad of cash on a top bottle of wine because they know it will be good. This is not really criticism. If you want a great bottle of wine but don't know so much about it that you can spot the "bargains", it makes sense to dish out for a pricey bottle -- if you have the money.

Now these are not the people who are paying outrageous amounts at auctions for cases of these same wines. But the restaurants who serve them are. The fact is that wine is generally a commodity. But when history or a rating or something else creates a lot of demand for a particular brand, it's price is going to soar if it's available only in small quantities (as much good Bordeaux and much other fine wine is).

The current astronomical prices for top Bordeaux (and Burgundy and cult California wines, etc.) is due simply to the huge increase in demand for top wines. As intererst in wine continues to take off in Asia and the Middle East, coinciding with economic booms there, this is going to continue.

(... not sure what any of this has to do with classifications per se ...)

Eric