So I haven’t bought from KB for probably 5 years or so, yet i still received an allocation of their ‘special wines’ today…as well as the ‘special’ Sta. Rita Hills bottle they are offering since the initial bottles apparently sold out within minutes.
I was never interested in buying any of them…but I do have to give the KB team major props for one helluva marketing stunt. Created a feeling of urgency in that there was a very limited supply of very special wines, and that those lucky enough to receive this special offer better jump on it quickly at $100 a pop (and $230 for the mag of chard).
Then after that initial offer apparently sold out instantly, they had another very exclusive wine ready to go for those who might not have moved fast enough to secure their bottles from the earlier allocation.
Very well played KB, and congrats on what I’m sure must have been a very profitable Tuesday!
*And just to be clear, I’m not saying the wines won’t be enjoyable…im just specifically speaking to the brilliance in the marketing.
This whole disaster of a process actually ticked me off enough to unsubscribe from the list altogether.
After several attempts to put an order through, I was frustrated enough to write them an email, and got the second “consolation” email later in the evening.
I hit the unsubscribe link and promptly delete that email, and the one before it. This whole fiasco reminded me why I rarely buy from first-come first-serve lists anymore.
Count me in the angry group. I like their wines. I waited a long time to get on the mailing list. First a couple of years for the appellation list. I had to buy from the appellation list for FIVE years before I got on the SVD list. That’s fine, they obviously have plenty of fans and can “require” loyalty if you want to continue to buy year after year. My issue is WHY have a first come, first serve offer that will potentially piss off many long time and consistent buyers? They are going to sell through any way you slice it but why put yourself in a position to alienate so many loyal fans? I was trying to order from the start but could not get the system to finish my order. Sent 2 emails…never replied. By the afternoon, I was thinking to myself, maybe they saved me a couple of bucks. Got last night’s consolation offer and thinking to myself, isn’t this a wine that I would have simply gotten allocated next year and now I have to pay for it 12 months farther in advance. I have not hit the unsubscribe button yet but I am passing on the consolation prize and thinking hard about this one going forward. I hope other producers are taking notes here…I don’t think this deserves hats off to anyone!
They are getting close to pricing themselves out of my comfort zone.
Last year, they raised the price of their 4-barrel by $35, which really raised my blood pressure.
I have strong doubts about purchasing their next SVD offering… and I’ve been buying since the 2002 vintage.
I had already decided not to buy the three bottles they offered, so I didn’t experience the frustration of them selling out instantly.
When the new SRH Pinot came along after, I was pretty happy to buy it. I like KB and I like SRH Pinot, so I’m optimistic. It delivers on December 4, so I guess we’re paying a bit earlier than normal, but it’s not a big deal to me. The price was the same as the other appellation pinots.
Exactly… The whole idea of 4-barrel was originally to reward the first 200 mailing list members (called the List Of Designates) for their loyalty.
I question how a $35 price increase rewards loyalty.
For the first time ever, I passed on my 6 bottle allocation.
I contacted KB about it, but did not receive a logical answer.
I suspect the motivation is increased profit.
These wines are no longer really my style. That said, I still buy a handful because (a) every once in a while I’m in the mood for a Pinot in this style and, if so, the KBs are good, and (b) they are crowd-pleasers and I will gift to/share with friends/clients that have heard of KB and are excited by the wines. For these reasons, I was going to grab a couple of these “special” offer wines. I logged on almost immediately after the offer went live, but was not able to purchase. I am not terribly upset and can live without these wines, but count me as another that does not think this was handled well by the KB team. Also, for the same reasons as R. Gleiberman, I was not thrilled with (nor will I be purchasing) the consolation offer.
$125 is the most I have I ever spent on wine . Cirq and GTS (Seaver Vineyards) . If/when the wines I buy go above that price point, i just don’t know what I’m going to do.
Very good points. I had troubles with the website as well, which clearly was getting hammered by requests. And, yes, it made little sense to do it this way especially with a site unable to handle the traffic.
Why not simply offer a couple of bottles to the “most loyal” customers, however defined, and then if that doesn’t sell out, offer the remainder to the next tranche of customers a few days later.
I spent the better part of an hour trying to get my order in. It kept emptying my cart when I tried to input my credit card info. you only had 10 minutes to complete your purchase and the system was deadly slow. I now remember why I stopped buying from them. Tax and shipping for 4 bottles (I live in VA) came to $14.50 per bottle! Certainly not worth it on a recurring basis.
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