Corkonomics

The economics of wine production, collection, and vineyards

CorkonomicsThe economics of wine production, collection, and vineyards
The numbers
Vineyard land · Pauillac≈$2,798,250 a hectare▼ down 17% on 20232024Opening price · Château Lafite Rothschild 2025≈$376 a bottle▲ up 17% on the year beforeSold at auction · Romanée-Conti Grand Cru, DRC 2019$22,917 a bottleSotheby's, Sep 2026Cost to make one bottle · Burgundy grand cru (Pinot Noir)$48–283US duty on wine from · Canada+50%since Aug 2026Everyday bottle in a US shop$13.77 a litre▼ down 1.3% in a yearSep 2026Vineyard land · Margaux≈$1,567,020 a hectare▼ down 7% on 20232024Opening price · Château Cheval Blanc 2025≈$376 a bottle▲ up 22% on the year beforeSold at auction · La Tâche Grand Cru, DRC 2018$5,417 a bottleSotheby's, Sep 2026Cost to make one bottle · Champagne prestige cuvée$26–89US duty on wine from · Australia+12.5%since Jul 2026Vineyard land · Côte-Rôtie≈$1,511,055 a hectare▲ up 8% on 20232024Opening price · Château Mouton Rothschild 2025≈$336 a bottle▲ up 19% on the year beforeSold at auction · Richebourg Grand Cru, DRC 2012$3,542 a bottleSotheby's, Sep 2026Cost to make one bottle · Bordeaux classified growth (2nd–5th)$17–61US duty on wine from · New Zealand+12.5%since Jul 2026Vineyard land · Côte de Nuits grand cru≈$7,275,450 a hectare2019Opening price · Château Palmer 2025≈$268 a bottle▼ down 19% on the year beforeVineyard land · Pomerol≈$2,238,600 a hectare2023
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New to wine? Start with the short lessons, then look up any word you do not know.

Learn · Wine words · Your saved pages

Wine, and the money behind it.

Learn the grapes, the places and the famous bottles. Then follow the money: what the land costs, what a bottle costs to make, what it sells for, and what the border adds. All in plain English.

What a hectare costsStart with the basics
Red wine being poured at a table beside a vineyard A glass of red wine Lesson oneThe five types of wineFour minutes
New to wine

Start here

Four small steps. By the end you will know your way around a wine list.

  1. Know the five types

    Red, white, rosé, sparkling and sweet. Every bottle in the shop is one of these.

    Go

  2. Meet a few grapes

    Most of what you taste comes from the grape. Learn six and you can read most wine lists.

    Go

  3. See where it grows

    Bordeaux, Tuscany, Napa. The place changes the wine, and the name is usually on the label.

    Go

  4. Taste with confidence

    Look, swirl, sniff, sip. Four small steps that make any glass more interesting.

    Go
The price of wine

What are you paying for in a famous bottle?

We added up what it costs a top Bordeaux estate to make one bottle. Our estimate is $28 to $95. The same bottle can sell for hundreds. The rest is rarity, reputation and everyone who handles it on the way to you.

  • The land the vines grow on$11–$44
  • Bottle, cork, label and box$5–$13
  • Farming the vines for a year$3–$10
  • Money tied up while it ages$2–$11
  • Running the winery$3–$7
  • Making the wine$2–$5
See what a bottle costs to make

A Corkonomics estimate for a typical estate of this kind, per bottle, built in US dollars. Not any one winery’s real accounts.

Oak barrels in a stone cellar with a bottle and a glass
The land

What a hectare of vines costs

The famous zones are small and almost never for sale. Here is what land fetched in a few of them.

All zones
  1. ≈$4,477,200–≈$13,431,600a hectare · 2019

    The top rank of Burgundy, divided among many owners and almost never sold. The most expensive vineyard land in the world.

  2. PauillacBordeaux
    ≈$1,902,810–≈$4,477,200a hectare · 2024

    Deep gravel banks beside the Gironde, three of the five first growths, and almost no land ever comes up for sale.

  3. ≈$1,119,300–≈$2,798,250a hectare · 2024

    The named slopes such as Cannubi: south-facing, rich in limestone marl, and the Barolos collectors want most.

  4. $300,000–$500,000an acre · 2025

    The benchland of Oakville, Rutherford and St Helena on the valley's west side: well-drained gravel and loam, warm days, cool nights, and the names behind the most sought-after Cabernets.

  5. ≈$89,544–≈$223,860a hectare · 2024

    Hill country between Florence and Siena, and a lot of it, so prices stay well below Montalcino.

  6. ≈$44,772–≈$134,316a hectare · 2024

    Spain's classic region has plenty of land, so prices stay modest even for good vineyards.

The basics

Every wine is one of these five

The difference is mostly about grape skins, bubbles and sugar.

Read the short guide
A glass of red wine on a dark wooden table

Red

Made from dark grapes, with the skins left in the juice. The skins give the colour and that dry, grippy feeling called tannin.

Tastes of cherry, plum, blackberry, spice

 A glass of white wine on a sunlit stone table

White

Made from the juice alone, without the skins, so it stays pale and fresh. Usually lighter and crisper than red.

Tastes of lemon, apple, peach, sometimes butter

 Two glasses of rosé on a picnic blanket

Rosé

Dark grapes, but the skins are left in for only a few hours. Just long enough to turn the wine pink.

Tastes of strawberry, melon, a squeeze of citrus

 A glass of sparkling wine with rising bubbles

Sparkling

Wine with bubbles. The fizz comes from a second fermentation that traps gas in the bottle. Champagne is the most famous.

Tastes of green apple, lemon, fresh bread

 A small glass of golden dessert wine with cheese and dried fruit

Sweet

Wine that keeps some of the grape's natural sugar. Rich, golden and served in small glasses, often at the end of a meal.

Tastes of honey, apricot, orange peel

Grapes

Six grapes to know first

Learn these and you can make sense of most wine lists. Each one has a personality.

All 12 grapes

Pinot Noir

Say it: PEE-noh NWAHR

The light, silky red. Pale in the glass, full of red fruit, never heavy.

  • Cherry
  • Raspberry
  • Mushroom

Merlot

Say it: mer-LOH

The soft, easy red. Plummy and smooth, with less grip than Cabernet.

  • Plum
  • Black cherry
  • Chocolate

Cabernet Sauvignon

Say it: cab-er-NAY so-vin-YOHN

The big, bold red. Dark, firm and built to go with a steak.

  • Blackcurrant
  • Black cherry
  • Cedar

Syrah

Say it: sih-RAH

The dark, peppery red. Also called Shiraz, mainly in Australia.

  • Blackberry
  • Black pepper
  • Olive

Chardonnay

Say it: shar-doh-NAY

The white that can be anything. Lean and crisp without oak, rich and buttery with it.

  • Apple
  • Lemon
  • Peach

Riesling

Say it: REES-ling

The zingy, perfumed white. It comes bone dry, lusciously sweet and everything in between.

  • Lime
  • Green apple
  • Peach
Places

Where wine comes from

The same grape tastes different in a different place. These are the names you will see most.

All regions
Vineyards in Bordeaux France

Bordeaux

The home of the classic red blend.

Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc Vineyards in Burgundy France

Burgundy

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at their most detailed.

Grapes: Pinot Noir for red, Chardonnay for white Vineyards in Champagne France

Champagne

The original sparkling wine.

Grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier Vineyards in Rhône France

Rhône

Peppery Syrah in the north, warm Grenache blends in the south.

Grapes: Syrah in the north. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre in the south Vineyards in Napa Valley United States

Napa Valley

California's home of rich, ripe Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon above all, plus Chardonnay and Merlot Vineyards in Tuscany Italy

Tuscany

Sangiovese country: Chianti, Brunello and the Super Tuscans.

Grapes: Sangiovese, plus Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot near the coast
Lessons

Short lessons for real life

Three or four minutes each. Read one before dinner.

All lessons
The names

The famous names, explained

You have probably heard of some of these. Here is who they are and why people care.

Famous wines
The Romanée-Conti vineyardBurgundyDomaine de la Romanée-ContiAbout 28 hectares of grands crus, two monopoles, and the most expensive wines on the…Château Lafite Rothschild, BordeauxBordeauxChâteau Lafite RothschildThe Rothschild first growth of Pauillac: about 112 hectares of vines, roughly…Château Margaux in Bordeaux, FranceBordeauxChâteau MargauxThe first growth of Margaux: about 82 hectares of red vines and 12 of white, owned by the…Château LatourBordeauxChâteau LatourThe first growth that left en primeur: since the 2011 vintage Latour has released only…

Photographs: Arnaud 25, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jordi Muray, Adobe Stock, Adobe Stock Standard License · robertdering, Adobe Stock, Adobe Stock Standard License · Remi Mathis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Vocabulary

Wine words, in plain English

Four words that come up all the time. None of them is complicated.

All wine words
A bowl of strong black tea beside a wooden spoon of grape skins and seeds

Tannin

The drying, grippy feeling in red wine, like strong tea. It comes from grape skins and seeds.

Sip a strong red and run your tongue over your gums. That dry, furry feeling is tannin.

A hand squeezing a lemon beside a glass of white wine

Acidity

The mouth-watering freshness in a wine, like the tang in lemonade. It keeps wine lively and helps it go with food.

If your mouth waters after a sip, the wine has plenty of acidity.

A cooper toasting the inside of a new oak barrel over a small fire

Oak

Many wines are aged in oak barrels, which add flavours such as vanilla, toast and spice.

Smell vanilla, toast or coconut? That is usually the barrel talking.

Hands holding dark soil beside an old vine on a terraced hillside

Terroir

A French word for everything about the place a wine comes from: soil, slope and weather.

Taste the same grape from two different places, side by side. The difference is terroir.

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Two friends clinking glasses of red and white wine