The Rules of Wealth, 4th Edition

RULE 16

Know the difference between price and value

I once asked my delightful father-in-law to explain that thing about wine to me. You know, can a bottle that costs £100 in a top restaurant really be 20 times as good as a bottle that you can get for a fiver at the local shop?

His answer was interesting. He said that you aren’t paying for the wine alone. What you are paying for is the ambience, the service, the location (we’re talking Le Gavroche here), the wine waiter’s expertise, the good company, the fine tablecloths, the privacy and discretion, the style and class, the tradition, the food and the trust, the humidity and storage, the tone and the surroundings, the fellow dining guests and the great conversation.

The wine is almost an irrelevance ...