Ever suspected that wine experts are just making it all up?

• After asking wine experts to sample more than 1,000 bottles of wine, a study by the French National Institute For Agricultural Research concluded that the price of wine is largely determined by its colour and vintage, not taste.
• Another study observed how people bid for bottles of champagne when they had and had not tasted the drink. Bidding was 33% higher when the champagne had not been sampled, implying that champagne tastes better in expectation than reality.
• The fine wine market in 2006 was worth more than $1.9 billion.

For the full story, head on over to the economist

Or, if you’re interested in a full working paper, the researchers over here show an interesting trend. High quality vintages increase in value in the short term, plateu, and then increase again when they become antiques. Low quality vintages by contrast don’t appreciate much at all for the first few years, then have a linear increase in value with time. We recommend heading straight to their conclusion (p.28)

Source: The Economist

And: Wine Economics