Why does wine typically cost more, sometimes a lot more, than even high-end beers or top-shelf liquors?
Two reasons, mainly. The first is simply that wine costs a lot more to make than beer or distilled spirits. For example, the cost of good wine bottles, corks, and foil capsules to close the end of the bottle alone can be $1.50 or more per bottle. Smaller wineries that don’t own their own bottling line will also pay about $2 per case for that process. Putting that in beer terms, the cost of producing a six-pack of beer would be $10.50, PLUS the cost of the beer (not included) and considerable markups for the wholesaler and your local carry-out. Maybe we’re talking around $22-25 for a six-pack of suds, all in, when you go to buy it. Growing and harvesting grapes is an enormously expensive exercise, complicated by the fact that, other than “Two-Buck Chuck”-type bulk wines, most are made and marketed using particular grapes grown in specific regions and vineyards. So, if they have a bad year, they cannot simply substitute other fruit. Contrast that with a mound of wheat and a bag of hops t
