By quality

Premium wines

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. On the other hand, they may spoil after such long storage periods, unknown to the drinker about to open the bottle. Part of the expense associated with high-end wine comes from the number of bottles which must be discarded in order to produce a drinkable wine. Restaurants will often charge between two and five times the price of what a wine merchant may ask for an exceptional vintage. This is for a reason: diners will often return wines that have spoiled and not bear the expense. For restaurateurs, serving old vintages is a risk that is compensated through elevated prices. Some high-end wines may be Veblen goods.

Exclusive wines come from all the best winemaking regions of the world. Secondary markets for these wines have consequently developed, as well as specialized facilities for post-purchase storage for people who either collect or "invest" in wine. The most common wines purchased for investment are Bordeaux, California cult wines and Port. The importance of the secondary wine market has led the rise of so-called "supercritics", most notably Robert M. Parker, Jr. The shift towards a perceived single-scale of wine analysis (the 100-point scale, or similar) has caused some traditionalists to claim that this process encourages a reduction in variety, as winemakers world-wide try to produce the allegedly single style of wine that will find favour with Mr. Parker and the many consumers who are influenced by his evaluations. The rise, in the late 1990s, of wines produced by the garagistes in Bordeaux, and the heavily tannic, highly fruit-driven wines of the New World, especially in California, Washington State, Australia and New Zealand, all selling for prices above that of the First Growths appear to reflect the influence of Parker and changing wine tastes. (The First Growths were classified by the French government in 1855 as the four best wines in Bordeaux. A fifth was added in 1973 after decades of lobbying by its owner.)

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.

Some wines, produced to mark significant events in a country or region, can also become collectible because of labelling design. An example is the Mildara Rhine Riesling produced in 1973 to mark the opening of the Sydney Opera House. Instead of labels, the bottles (red, as well as white) had printing in gold on them, as seen in the illustration.

Cheap wines

At the lower end of the quality spectrum, bulk wine or cooking wine is usually sold cheaply and in large quantities. Cleanskin wine is a type of cheap wine, of ever-increasing popularity in Australia, whose label does not feature the winery nor the winemaker’s name. Cleanskin wine is not necessarily of low quality, and over-produced premium wines are often sold as cleanskins (mainly on online auctions) rather than turned into vinegar.