I was also lukewarm about the Barbera d’Alba, although it is still a great QPR at $5.99. The Valreas varies from year to year. The 2001 and 2004 were excellent; the 2005, a bit weak considering the vintage. I haven’t tried the 2006 because it’s been sold out every time I get to visit TJ’s.

My notes on these wines are at my blog: http://www.artisanwine.blogspot.com. Would love to have some new visitors and comments.

That’s where the cooperatives come into the picture. Italy is filled with them, and they give many small producers a place to put their products. Some cooperatives are top notch that command good prices for their wines–some are not.

Think of Produttori del Barbaresco. That’s one of the top notch cooperatives.

I agree completely with your analysis. When I was in retail and made annual trips to VinItalia, in Verona, I used to marvel that small producers could even afford to pay for a booth. Then, I began to meet the families behind the wine and learned what it took for them to survive, and their level of devotion to the wine venture, for many, at great cost to their other income-producing activities.

Cooperatives help many of them, but a poorly run one can also suck them dry.

1. My condolences for being in Cleveland.

2. The end of EU subsidies wouldn’t have much effect on pricing. While small farmers/wine producers often get something, it is of course the big boys who rake in all the subsidy money (NB: it happens in our happy land too.)

You have to remember that the cost of shipping, storage, import duties, etc, etc, all add a lot to the cost of a bottle of wine. If I as an importer buy wine at 2 euros, about $3, all of those costs double the bottle price. Then our rather un-free-market 3 tiered-distribution system enters into the picture, with decent markups at each level. The $3 bottle becomes a (say) $15 bottle to you, the consumer.

How much is the producer actually making? Not quite enough to pay for the steep increases in fuel, bottles, corks and labor, among other things. He may or may not be able to upgrade his plants because of each of these factors. He may be forced to sell a lot of the wine to a bulk packager because he can’t afford the bottles, etc. And he’s probably in hock because he’s made upgrades to each of aspect of his agricultural and cellar operations.

The smaller producer is getting by, barely. And there’s very often at least 2 other incomes from other sources to keep the operation afloat, viz., other family members who put everything they make into it.

I’m in Cleveland again, and there’s a Trader Joe’s not far from where I’m staying. Eclectic mix of ingredients and prepared foods, and the place is always packed. Here too they’re allowed to sell wine, though the in-store tastings run ten cents per sample. Oh, my aching wallet!

The prices are quite reasonable and the selection is often interesting. Generally the person doing the pouring knows a great deal about the wines on offer–something you don’t normally see at regular grocery stores, which tend to stick to the Yellowtail/Gallo kind of wines.

As for the economics of the situation, if Europe moved to a true free market and dropped all wine subsidies and allowed winemakers to fail while others survived (perhaps even some AOCs/DOCs would disappear entirely), then we’d probably see more “fair” pricing all around, but there’s probably as much chance of that happening as the USA getting rid of our massive corn welfare. (Rant over.)