Knowing Value

Reading this reminded of a woman I know who is studying to be sommelier. While this data analysis is unlikely to help her, I found it fun way to spend time learning about things I didn't know I needed to know anything about. I learned that wines with animal labels have a median price about $3 cheaper than those without, but both groups have the same median rating (4 stars). In general, you’re better off buying a wine with an animal on the label than without. 

But it goes further. Top the list for value, 24.2% of fish-labeled wines are "good deals" (below median price, above median rating), especially white wines from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. That really helps clarify things if you are confused about your choices at a wine store and can't decide on price vs value. The best value is found in the bottom-right quadrant of the price-rating scatterplot: wines that are both cheap and highly rated. Fish and birds, especially songbirds and gulls, are your best bets for finding these bottles. I love such distillation of knowledge that allows regular folk to make good choices.

If your budget is $10, your budget is $10 — it doesn’t matter if you know which animals are expensive. A much more useful thing to know is which animals are undervalued, the ones that tend to stay cheap, even as quality increases.