With wine at 60s. to 100s. per dozen the case is different. The price leaves an ample margin for the conversion of ‘Italian reds,’ Catalans, and other sound ordinary wines into any fancy brands that may happen to be in fashion. Such being the case, the mere fact that certain emperors or potentates have bought up the whole produce of the château that is named on the labels does not interfere with the market supply, which is strictly regulated by the demand.[20]
Visiting a friend in the trade, he offered me a glass of the wine that he drank himself when at home, and supplied to his own family. He asked my opinion of it. I replied that I thought it was genuine grape-juice, resembling that which I had been accustomed to drink at country inns in the Côte d’Or (Burgundy) and in Italy. He told me that he imported it directly from a district near to that I first named, and could supply it at 12s. per dozen with a fair profit. Afterwards, when calling at his place of business in the West-end, he told me that one of his best customers had just been tasting the various samples of dinner claret then remaining on the table, some of them expensive, and that he had chosen the same as I had, but what was my friend to do? Had he quoted 12s. per dozen, he would have lost one of his best customers, and sacrificed his reputation as a high-class wine-merchant; therefore he quoted 54s., and both buyer and seller were perfectly satisfied: the wine-merchant made a large profit, and the customer obtained what he demanded—a good wine at a ‘respectable price.’ He could not insult his friends by putting cheap 12s. trash on his table.
Here arises an ethical question. Was the wine-merchant justified in making this charge under the circumstances; or, otherwise stated, who was to blame for the crookedness of the transaction? I say the customer; my verdict is, ‘Sarve him right!’
In reference to wines, and still more to cigars, and some other useless luxuries, the typical Englishman is a victim to a prevalent commercial superstition. He blindly assumes that price must necessarily represent quality, and therefore shuts his eyes and opens his mouth to swallow anything with complete satisfaction, provided that he pays a good price for it at a respectable establishment, i.e. one where only high-priced articles are sold.
If any reader thinks I speak too strongly, let him ascertain the market price per lb. of the best Havanna tobacco leaves where they are grown, also the cost of twisting them into cigar shape (a skilful workwoman can make a thousand in a day), then add to the sum of these the cost of packing, carriage, and duty. He will be rather astonished at the result of this arithmetical problem.
If these things were necessaries of life, or contributed in any degree or manner to human welfare, I should protest indignantly; but seeing what they are and what they do, I rather rejoice at the limitation of consumption effected by their fancy prices.