Reference prices: placement, not worth in the glass

The standard

The comparison-based pricing derives a price from named reference points and makes them open: which wines, which period, which segment. Without a named reference point, a reference price is a number without origin.

Criteria

• The reference point is named: comparable wine, vintage or segment
• The comparison states its period, because prices shift
• It separates the market price from the sensory assessment
• It stays correctable when the basis of comparison changes

Distinction

Reference prices ≠ collector value: collector value measures scarcity and demand, the reference price the position in the present comparison. Reference prices ≠ market logic versus ageing physics: the former describes a conflict of aims, the latter a yardstick of comparison. The comparison-based pricing places, it does not derive a price from the wine.