Indeed, Mike. The point I was making was that if you were paying 200 Euros per bottle direct from a farm in Spain then it would have to be bloody good stuff!!

Whereas in a restaurant there is usually a 100-200% mark-up, so wine priced at 200 Euros a bottle has a true value of only a fraction of that amount.

I love Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Amarone, and the best Chianti, but when I'm in Italy I never order it at a restaurant. Instead I go to a vineyard in the area of production and buy direct - fortunately there are quite a few where our house is in Tuscany

Or we make our own cheap (but very drinkable) table wine from the small vineyard in our grounds.

The car is always overflowing with bottles of wine, bought in both Italy and France, on the journey back home to the UK!

Marco.