SORRY, SORRY, SOOOY to all. I had a hectic few days at work, and didn't have time to give part two, but here it is...
So, a little background on the two of us who were having the conversation. We are best friends, who have wine cellars that we have combined and become buying partners. I have been in the wine industry until recently, and my friend still is. We both are avid oenophiles, or as i like to speak in plain english, we're wine geeks. The only place we differ is that i strive to take any hint of snobbery out of the wine world and my friends one achilles heel is that he is a bonafide wine snob. Ok, that is enough of a rant to give you the picture.
Our argument consisted of his opinion that if you had developed your pallet and had been introduced to "fine" wines (lets say $50+ just to pick a random number) that you would need to spend at least $25-30 on your daily drinker, or your mouth would revolt. I on the other hand claimed he was crazy, and proposed that a developed pallet enables you to find those great wines under $10 that are truly outstanding among the multitude in that price range that are better left for vinegar production. We agreed to disagree, and i felt the need to pose the question as i did.
To answer my own question, my everyday drinkers are mindblowing wines that average a mere $6-$9. As for the most i've ever paid, that gets tricky. I haven't purchased much at retail prices in quite a while. At the ripe old age of 25 I'm sitting on a cellar bulging at about 2500 bottles, the most expensive probablt topping out at about $1500. I have had the very fortunate opportunity to taste a few wines that would probably retail at about $5000. And, yes, after all that the $6 bottle still tastes like some damn good juice!!!