Fine wine can be a personal preference and/or an investment. Fine wines come from all the best winemaking regions of the world. At the highest end, rare, super-premium wines are amongst the most expensive of all foodstuffs, and outstanding vintages from the best vineyards may sell for thousands of dollars per bottle. Red wines, at least partly because of their ability to form more complex subtleties, are typically more expensive. Some of the most expensive come from Bordeaux and Burgundy. However, some white dessert wines like German trockenbeerenauslese or French Sauternes for example, cost hundreds of dollars for a half bottle. Such premium wines are often at their best years or even decades after bottling.

Wines can be generally rated on a scale of 0 to 100 points, credited as follows: 33 for aroma and bouquet; 33 for mouth; 10 for finish; and 24 for overall impression. The resulting scores always personally subjective and can be broadly averaged with scores in the upper 90s for truly exceptional wines, wines scoring below 80 being poor, and wines below 75 being unacceptable. Many claim that the 100 point wine rating scale is obselete and skewed by advertising dollars. Don't be fooled as no wine rating is absolute and there are probably thousands of very fine wines out there that have never been rated.

Caution: Investment in fine wine has attracted a number of fraudsters who play on fine wine's exclusive image and their clients' ignorance of this sector of the wine market. Wine fraud scams often work by charging excessively high prices for the wine, while representing that it is a sound investment unaffected by economic cycles. Like any investment, proper research is essential before investing. False labeling is another dishonest practice commonly used.

Fine wines may be classified by the year in which the grapes are harvested, known as the "vintage". "Vintage wines" are made from grapes of a single year's harvest, and are accordingly dated. Some wines can improve in flavor as they age, and wine enthusiasts will occasionally save bottles of an especially good vintage wine for future consumption.

For some types of wine, the best-quality grapes and the most care in wine-making are employed on vintage wines and they are therefore more expensive than non-vintage wines. Whilst vintage wines are generally made in a single batch so that each and every bottle will have a similar taste, climatic factors can have a dramatic impact on the character of a wine to the extent that different vintages from the same vineyard can vary dramatically in flavor and quality. Thus, vintage wines are produced to be individually characteristic of the vintage and to serve as the flagship wines of the producer. Non-vintage wines, however, are blended from a number of vintages for consistency, this allows wine makers to keep a reliable market image and also maintain sales even in bad vintage years.

Related links, articles and resources:

The Wine Advocate: A leading source of wine information and consumer guide to fine wines.

Wine Spectator offers more than 240000 expert wine ratings, with full reviews, including tasting notes , score and recommendations on when to drink.

The World of Fine Wine - For those devoted to wine and all things vinous.