OT: Wine pricing bifurcation

[barnaby33]

In the last 6 months I’ve been noticing some interesting trends in wine pricing. Since wine is important to me, I thought I’d post a few thoughts and see if it starts a conversation.

Things I’ve noticed in no particular order:

• Status wines, particularly Bordeaux have continued to climb in price. For the classified growths it looks as if 09/10 will again set records for pricing. Whether this is because of a weak bonar, strong demand, wine investment funds, or a combo, I cannot say.
• Most Napa wineries have attempted to establish 40 dollars as the price for their basic bottling. During the early stages of the depression wineries were lowering prices to move inventory. The market for cab seems to have bounced back, or at least thats the marketing story I see. I don’t buy that much anymore but it is a curiousity to me. This is because the majority of us drink cab.
• Syrah is still unloved. Hands down the best deals in the wine world at the high end are Aussie Shiraz. If you know what to look for there are amazing deals, especially at auction on older vintages.
• Italian wine is still the best deal going. I say this because by and large Italian wine goes best with the food I eat and so in picking a region its easiest to get affordable diversity. There are really good Italian wines out there in the high teens.
• Costco has become a dumping ground. Not just because my tastes have changed either. They seem to carry lots of meh vintages of good wines. Pricing while decent often varies wildly and there is no guarantee its the lowest price available.

[bob2007]

For the wines I like and buy, I’ve noticed that I can usually buy wine at Vons for about the same price per bottle as the bevmo 5c sale.

Which italian wines do you prefer?

[sdrealtor]

Hard for me to say as I dont buy much through conventional channels anymore. I have been buying alot of auction wines that are 30 to 50% what they were acquired at. The world of wine still seems to be on sale to me though I am not a high end Bordeaux buyer where it definitely is not.

[ucodegen]

I’ve tried some BevMo sold wines and beers and was disappointed by some of the quality. It seemed that even some of the brands I liked didn’t taste as I remembered. I found out that BevMo doesn’t always follow temperature and storage procedures for the wines and beers. Most of it is open storage in the range of 68 to 76 degrees.

One of the places I have found for good quality wines at a decent price is 3rd Corner in Encinitas. It is a combined Wine Shop and Bistro. There are also 3rd Corners in Ocean Beach and Palm Desert. The prices are fairly good, though they also carry some more expensive wines as well. Most of them are NOT the common labels. I have found that many of the common labels actually buy the wines from other winerys and relabel.

[sdrealtor]

3rd Corner has nice wines and fair prices. Also try La Costa Wine in the area. BevMo sells very mediocre wines and they are overpriced. Occasionally they have a great deal but they are few and far between. Most of what they get are from off year vintages too. They pick up the stuff the better shops dont want and charge too much for them. Costco is great also if you know what to look for.

[poorgradstudent]

I’m still all about Chilean and Spanish wines. For the buck, they seem to be the best values, at least in my sub-$20 price range.

[sdrealtor]

Much better values than that if you know where to find them. High end wineries that cant sell all their wine sell it off in bulk to private labelers. I just bought 6 bottles of a Howell Mountain Properietary Red Wine for $19.99 that is also being sold for over $100 under the wineries label. Howell Mountain is one fo the best AVA’s (growing areas) in Napa Valley. The wine world is on sale if you know where to find it.

[svelte]

Supposedly, early rains this year destroyed many grapes. Therefore, the theory is that winemakers will use the remaining crop to make their higher priced wines and will allot less to the bottom of the barrel wines…perhaps driving up prices on them once this year’s crop hits the shelves.

[barnaby33]

Not going to argue there. Everyone wants to maintain the “dignity” of their brand and not dilute pricing. However what I’m commenting on is oriented more towards what I see for the general consumer as opposed to someone, like you or I who hunts and pecks. The implication being you’ve got to know what you are looking for to find those good deals.

To me though the great deals have largely disappeared, on current release items.

[barnaby33]

Supposedly, early rains this year destroyed many grapes.

Where was this? I’ve heard that about Napa, but where else are you referring to?

Josh

[sdrealtor]

Sonoma too. I was talking to Steve Kanzler in early June and it was raining. I wont print what came out of his mouth. The winemalers I have spoken with are claioming quality will still be high but yields way down this year like last year. Of course, what else would they say?

[AK]

I’ve heard expats in France complain that truly good wines are either unaffordable or unavailable because of strong demand from (where else?) China. French wine has been a common business/personal gift in China for some time, so I guess it’s natural that with economic growth comes a taste for the good s***.

Maybe the new Chinese tax rules regarding business gifts will ameliorate the bifurcation. Not that it makes much of a difference to me. When I do drink an imported wine product it’s usually a fine $2.99 imported sangria.

[sdrealtor]

Yes China has killed the pricing on 1st growth Bourdeauxs but there are great deals everywhere else. Here’s something I just picked up today.

http://www.wineblowout.com

2006 Kuleto Estate Cab Sauvignon. Split 6 bottles with a friend and paid $25 each. Thats a great wine and a very reasonable price for that level of quality. Its up in South OC so we just have them hold it until we can swing by and save on shipping.

[CDMA ENG]

I am with Barnaby on the Italian wine statement.

I think the best value on high end wines lie with Italy. You can buy a 94 point Tuscany for t cheaper than you can buy a 91-92 point Super Cabs out of Napa. Bourdeauxs? Forgot it about it… Way to pricey and overvalued as a wine. It don’t mind though I am not keen on the taste charateristics on the Bourdeauxs anyway. Maybe I did not sample the right one but I spent a LOT of money on good ones while I was in Tahiti and was not impressed.

If you subscribe to wine spectator and several different wine sellers you can find great bargins on wine at the 25 dollar price point.

Nebbiolo… Yum!

CE

[sdrealtor]

Love the Italians also but at the under $30 decent Brunello’s are tough to come by and Barolo’s impossible. Stick with Barbaresco’s

FWIW, that 2006 Kuleto Cab is easily a 92 pt wine. I also bought private labeled Cab from Howell Mountain yesterday that is probably 94 to 95 pt quality for $19.99.

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