2013 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo: The First Winesearcher Hit

I’ve been checking winesearcher daily to see when the 2013 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo would make an appearance. This morning for the first time there was a listing for a place called the WineHouse showing it as a pre-arrival @ $149.99 and to arrive in October. Sold out! I am afraid shades of things to come for this wine in the U.S. It will probably be 2010 all over again.

I have quite a bit of Bartolo, but missed the 2010 release other than a single bottle that a restaurant was willing to sell me. I’ve been trying to backstock since, but haven’t found prices in line with quality (a very solid wine, but not $400 solid). Hoping to avoid the same oversight with 2013.

Rare Wine Co just started shipping this wine to their distributors this week. So, don’t give up hope just yet. I imagine you will start to see a lot more listings for this wine as early as next week. There was a very small price increase with this vintage, so prices should be fairly similar to the 2012.

Price increases ex-cellar have little to do with retail pricing of wines like this. Burlotto Monvigliero case in point.

I certainly hope to find a few bottles at reasonable pricing but what I have seen so far, and been offered, is well above 2012 retail pricing.

As with any high scoring, limited wine this is always the case. But, there’s also quite a few merchants out there who will just run their usual margins on this wine…like they do with all allocated wines. I guess my point is that the Winery/Importer didn’t have a substantial increase with this vintage and I do believe that some Berserkers will probably find this wine at prices close to what they paid for the 2012.

This is why when I find a store that I like, and a retailer that can get most of what I need; I try to consolidate as much of my wine buying as possible to 1-2 (maybe 3-4) stores. The one store that gets 70% of my business has a wine buyer that knows my palate, gives me fair prices, and actively seeks to expand my palate and knowledge of producers. He’s someone that I trust implicitly…and only my budget keeps me from following all of his recommendations blindly.

Look at auction. It can still be had for a pretty solid price.

Is that after a 23% buyers commission is added?

Yup. It’s hit a high of $260 with BP.

Second and third hits on winesearcher today: $144.99 and $199.99 respectively. Sold out and sold out.

Another one bites the dust. At least this time I know who it was and they were kind enough to split with me [thumbs-up.gif]

56 Degrees, $180 a bottle. Sold out!

I have a case coming today

Central Wine Merchants… Gone.

Man, just a few years ago I picked up the 06 and 08 for $90/btl. Too bad that pricing has caught up with (or exceeded) quality.

Well that’s just like, your opinion man.

What would be your cut-off point for value John - let’s say the point you stop buying except for the occasional bottle once every couple of years? $90 to $260 is a big jump.

FWIW I saw bottles earlier this year on the shelves in Italy at ~ €80-90, but that might have been the 2012 vintage. The price pressure seems strong in the US, but I’ve no doubt the UK market would also be bumping up the price for rarity / prestige as well.

Just got a personal email yesterday from a retailer offering the 2013 since I had bought the 2012. Really appreciated the great service. Bought what I was offered.

Which retailer?

For the 2013 Bartolo, I don’t know, maybe $200? Considering the chatter around this producer/vintage, I have a strong feeling that the market is going to push this upwards of $250 a bottle. Yes it’s a big jump but I think great Barolo is sadly next in line to have these kinds of price increases.