The article and photos show that relative prices are shown within categories. So it could be that your less expensive alcohol purchases seem insignificant, but each other category still visually demonstrates useful comparisons. (But that's an option; they might show the relative bar graph across categories, making it potentially less useful. Except for the original question... How did I spend $180? Oh! $100 wine bottle!)
ETA: OK you're right - in the example they show, the prices are relative across categories. Not sure if A/B testing could be done to figure out which way is better!