> The real question, in my opinion, is whether a high-priced bottle is "worth it" by as near-objective standards as possible.

This really resonates with me. In day-to-day life "worth it" depends a lot on the person, and especially their financial standing.

I like to try to think of an unbiased "worth it" as plotting cost vs value of everything in the category on a scatter plot. Things that are "worth it" are above the average curve (and the curve is going up at higher prices).

Basically "this option provides more value than most other options of same or lower cost".