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Champagne continues to maintain a pretty solid price premium though? The case of Moet-Chandon is instructive: the French variety usually retails for a solid $2

Champagne continues to maintain a pretty solid price premium though? The case of Moet-Chandon is instructive: the French variety usually retails for a solid $20/bottle more than Chandon's Australian or Californian wines, even though they're all made by the same house and the same methode champenoise.

vertis 6y ago
But that's exactly my point. I hear people talking about bottles of 'Moet', not champagne. I've been given or bought several Moet-Chandon bottles over the years, and I would not be able to tell you with certainty whether they were filled with wine from the Champagne region. Anecdotal for sure. I would also argue that you could use any reasonably French sounding place name, 'Trois-Rivières' and people would make assumptions.
- howlgarnish 6y ago
  The price premium applies to all champagne though. Even the cheapest ones (eg the one at Aldi) start from $30, while basically indistinguishable if not superior prosecco/cava/sparkling can be had for $10.
  - alkonaut 6y ago
    Putting a good $15 bottle on the table doesn't tell your friends "I really want to celebrate this. It's a special occasion to me". The $35 champagne that might inded be worse, does. Especially if you are the kind that often drinks the $15 ones! And that's imho the selling point of (at least the lower end) champagne. I still do that occasionally. A $20 difference is a pretty small price for a "signal". It's not stupid just because the content is indistinguishable. I pay for the label - because the label is the effect! It's the product! That's also why such producers need to be careful with others using their name. They are selling a name while everyone else is selling wine.
    - Spivak 6y ago
      I must be in a casual social circle because a popping a 5 bottle of bubbly is just as celebratory. The idea of getting out “the good alcohol” for a special occasion is so foreign to me.
- navaati 6y ago
  "Trois-Rivières" does sound French, but it also totally sounds "rum", not wine ;)
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
slumdev 6y ago
Terroir matters. And most of the price difference results from cachet anyway. A benefit of living in France is that there are plenty of great wines available for less than 10 Euros. They don't get exported because, I'd imagine, it's probably not cost-effective to do so.

vertis 6y ago

But that's exactly my point. I hear people talking about bottles of 'Moet', not champagne. I've been given or bought several Moet-Chandon bottles over the years, and I would not be able to tell you with certainty whether they were filled with wine from the Champagne region. Anecdotal for sure. I would also argue that you could use any reasonably French sounding place name, 'Trois-Rivières' and people would make assumptions.

howlgarnish 6y ago
The price premium applies to all champagne though. Even the cheapest ones (eg the one at Aldi) start from $30, while basically indistinguishable if not superior prosecco/cava/sparkling can be had for $10.
- alkonaut 6y ago
  Putting a good $15 bottle on the table doesn't tell your friends "I really want to celebrate this. It's a special occasion to me". The $35 champagne that might inded be worse, does. Especially if you are the kind that often drinks the $15 ones! And that's imho the selling point of (at least the lower end) champagne. I still do that occasionally. A $20 difference is a pretty small price for a "signal". It's not stupid just because the content is indistinguishable. I pay for the label - because the label is the effect! It's the product! That's also why such producers need to be careful with others using their name. They are selling a name while everyone else is selling wine.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    I must be in a casual social circle because a popping a 5 bottle of bubbly is just as celebratory. The idea of getting out “the good alcohol” for a special occasion is so foreign to me.
navaati 6y ago
"Trois-Rivières" does sound French, but it also totally sounds "rum", not wine ;)
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

slumdev 6y ago

Terroir matters. And most of the price difference results from cachet anyway. A benefit of living in France is that there are plenty of great wines available for less than 10 Euros. They don't get exported because, I'd imagine, it's probably not cost-effective to do so.