For me this has nothing to do with price, it is about honesty in marketing and communication. Piesporter Michelsberg simply is not "one of the most renowned wines of Germany" - if anything it is about the most infamous wines of Germany. Elevating it to legendary status is also wrong. You can get away with associating it with Piesport if you can demonstrate that the grapes it is made from came from Piesport, but if all the grapes do then I don't see why you would brand it as Michelsberg anyway.
The argument about value is a different one and where Michelsberg sits depends on your palate. I poured it down the drain but then I am the person who would rather drink less wine and spend twice as much per bottle. Others might not care enough or simply feel they cannot afford to spend more than a fiver. It is certainly true that the UK tax and duty regime makes it much harder to sell decent wine at low prices (for non-UK readers: in a wine like the Legends you are paying around £3 for tax and duty; then add retailer margin, shipping, marketing etc. and you realise how little actually went into the wine). Two years ago I did another blind tasting to compare a Piesporter, Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun - and at the time concluded I liked the cheapest wine best (Liebfraumilch for £3.06) simply because it was least annoying.
That all does not change my issue with a respected supermarket with, as you rightly say, an otherwise good range of German wine selling a product that claims to be something it is not.
In reply to Price by @Winerackd
Price; and not just price
For me this has nothing to do with price, it is about honesty in marketing and communication. Piesporter Michelsberg simply is not "one of the most renowned wines of Germany" - if anything it is about the most infamous wines of Germany. Elevating it to legendary status is also wrong. You can get away with associating it with Piesport if you can demonstrate that the grapes it is made from came from Piesport, but if all the grapes do then I don't see why you would brand it as Michelsberg anyway.
The argument about value is a different one and where Michelsberg sits depends on your palate. I poured it down the drain but then I am the person who would rather drink less wine and spend twice as much per bottle. Others might not care enough or simply feel they cannot afford to spend more than a fiver. It is certainly true that the UK tax and duty regime makes it much harder to sell decent wine at low prices (for non-UK readers: in a wine like the Legends you are paying around £3 for tax and duty; then add retailer margin, shipping, marketing etc. and you realise how little actually went into the wine). Two years ago I did another blind tasting to compare a Piesporter, Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun - and at the time concluded I liked the cheapest wine best (Liebfraumilch for £3.06) simply because it was least annoying.
That all does not change my issue with a respected supermarket with, as you rightly say, an otherwise good range of German wine selling a product that claims to be something it is not.