Vine density, cluster height, and quality

In the course of being dragged around Paso Robles by some out-of-town wine tourists, I visited a rather new, very well financed and designed winery that had recently planted a hillside vineyard with relatively high density and low stakes and wires.  I'd previously thought that high density and low trellising were an interesting way to increase acreage yield and ripeness in very expensive, cool climate areas: Burgundy, Willamette PN, and extreme coastal California (region zero, so to speak).  But even west Paso property ain't that expensive, and these weren't Burgundian varietals - it seems to me a great way to spend a pile of money, and cook grapes.