For those that get an allocation of something from a retailer, I’ve always had a few curiosities.
How did it even come about? Did you ask, do they have a list, is it just good retailers who don’t want to flip and create some good will? How long had you been buying the wine before you knew you had/were offered an allocation?
How much business in general to you do with the retailer?
Is this a local situation or does it involve shipping?
For me, the manager knows that I am in weekly to buy wine, a bottle of spirits or a six pack of obscure beer.
When the 2008 Cristal hit our market in DFW, I specifically went to him and asked for a six pack. He got me the best price in the state, if not the country for them. I have a standing order for both 2008 Krug and Salon when they make it to Texas. The DP he could not beat Costco on price by about $20 a bottle, so I did get six from them and another case from a Houston grocery store.
Just gotta ask then show commitment to buying other stuff from them that isn’t just cherries.
In my case, I started buying the wines from the retailers more than 15 years ago. Back then there was not much that was allocated, you just bought the wines. Pretty much all the big name Burgundy domaines were readily available for immediate purchase without allocation. Same for Bordeaux and Rhone etc
If you bought the same wines every year without fail, then you got offered the same wines (in the same quantities mostly) the following year. As demand went up then these became your allocations. Consistency of purchases is key - no cherry picking over vintages or only buying the trophies and not the “lesser” wines. Very little in the way of tied purchases required.
I would send the retailers my annual wish list in Jan each year and 98% of the time would get everything that I asked for. Some times due to lower yields, etc the allocations got reduced by a bottle. In last few years there has been a huge squeeze on the allocations and so what was an allocation of say 6 bottles is now 3 bottles. As I have way too much wine, I have given up most of my allocations now.
NZ is pretty small place, so the retailers quickly get to know who the serious / consistent buyers are and you get to build a good relationship with them over time.
Brodie
Most store fronts want traffic and dollar flow, as long as you spend regularly then you will get allocations of the good stuff
When I was the buyer and writing the newsletters for my wine shops, I kept track of those who bought the wines on my recommendation that wouldn’t be reviewed for months by the critics. Those were the people who continued to get offered those wines in subsequent vintages even after they became highly sought-after in the market. You create and develop relationships.
My experience buying wine in 2019 feels very different than the advice on this board. I don’t really buy into this relationship stuff for getting onto the allocated lists, and you need to be proactive in finding a store that is willing to allocate you stuff. Subsequently, I believe once you get allocated then you should maintain the relationship to stay allocated.
I don’t think many stores will be responsive to you. I’ve bought a lot of wines from retailers that get allocations, and have received nothing in return. Literally only one store has responded favorably this way, and I didn’t spend that much relatively at this store and am now channeling as much as I can to this store.
Why don’t other stores respond? It’s a combination of (i) allocated stuff is already allocated to customers, (ii) they are a store in a major city and one single customer doesn’t really matter, or (iii) they mark up their allocations to new buyers by a large amount. For example, there are three stores in NYC that I spent a pretty penny at each… one said straight up/upfront that I would not get allocations of everything, another offered me three 375s of 2014 Burlotto, and another offered me a single bottle of Jamet and Cappellano marked up 40% and made it seem I owed them my life for it.
I think your best bet is to find a store outside of a major area (e.g., I don’t see the point in buying from any store in Manhattan if your goal is to get allocations) so your business can be more meaningful. And I think its reasonable to be direct – ask which allocations you want and whether you can get on those lists in any reasonable quantity.
There is a producer I want to buy in 2015-16 and I realized folks I bought from before will not give it to me. So now I myself just emailed someone today and asked if I bought XXX in a current off vintage, will they give me the same quantity of wines going forward… and they said yes. Versus if I go to the many I spent a lot with already, they would laugh at me. I was a fool for thinking buying from retailers would open doors… you need to find retailers that have allocations they are wiling to share with someone new.
Either be a whale, or else hunt and peck like the rest of us.
Besides, if you have to buy a raft of wines you don’t want in order to get access to the wine you do, are you really coming out ahead versus buying only the wine you want at an inflated price?
I am not a whale, but rather a consistent, decent volume customer for over 20 years at the same shop. It helps me get a couple of difficult to source allocations, and responsiveness when I ask them to try sourcing things for me.
Yes, a 20-year track record is perhaps the only alternative to being a whale. But unless folks have a time machine, that’s not going to help anyone new to the hobby, no matter how loyal they try to be over the next few years. That ship has sailed.
It won’t help with the current crazy stuff, but there’s way more interesting wines than that. Some of the less well known wines will be tomorrow’s cherries.
I think location, business size/model and target clientele is the key to allocations. We are small and lazy so we don’t go to extremes and “allocation” is term we don’t use. We may have a limit on certain cigars you can purchase but don’t limit the sale of wine. Some wine may be “spoken for” when it arrives or specifically ordered for certain people, but if we have more, it is for sale. We are not about to gamble on futures from anybody, nor charge people for futures and chance the quick sand end of business. Sell what you have. Hunt down anything else that will move. Stuff the back room with the impossibles and wait for the regulars who show up to buy them. Dig up old cellars for the local winemakers and wine snobs who want to revisit the past. Allocations require paper work and I’m technically retired.
I think you make an important point. The relationship isn’t just about dollars spent. If a retailer feels your serious (for example, buy on their recommendations, or based your own convictions, and not just on points), and have shown loyalty to them even if you’re not a whale, you’re more likely to receive favorable consideration. If they think you’re just buying what’s fashionable, they’re a lot less likely to sell you their few bottles of 13 Burlotto, even if you’ve spent a lot with them. Serious stores tend to have serious staffs who would prefer to see sought-after wines go to people they think will really appreciate them.
I suppose that’s true in some cases, but I just don’t see developing a relationship with someone for the sake of getting in on allocations that they are going to sell me at full retail.
There’s no wine I’m that desperate for that will cause me to buy a bunch of uninspired stuff all year long to obtain.
Anyway, I’m more distressed by something else!
I hope you were deep into a bottle of something good when you let that one go by.
The relationship isn’t just about dollars spent. If a retailer feels your serious . . .
What’s your problem, man? Don’t you just have to have some wines just because they’re hard to get?
Not deep into the bottle, but definitely at the end of a long day.
I’ve found developing a relationship with the local wine brokers is great for sourcing harder to get wines. Also get invited to private lunches or dinners with winemakers thru them as well.
I wouldn’t say I buy a lot, but they know I do buy and am serious about what I buy. Not just chasing scores.
these days it seems like every email i get uses the word ‘allocated’ to describe what is on offer…
Does this mean I HAVE to buy thar Tibetan wine that TotalWine was offering for $1800/6pack if I ever want to drink wine from the top of the world again?
To paraphrase an old adage in business, “gotta love those that love ya”. And often that does indeed mean total dollars spent with year after year consistency.
If you are a retailer, or seeking personal relationships, are you looking for cherry pickers or one-night stands, or the long-term relationship?
I’ve had two long-term and still active relationships with NYC city retailers, both going on 15+ years. I spend a fair bit at both. Both have allocated great wines for me, including Juge, Rougeard and Gonon. And even on those, my allocations have gone down over the years ever since there has been a corresponding demand for these unique wines. I totally get it, they have other, bigger clients to satisfy as well. I lost my Rougeard allocation from one of them even after buying everything offered over some years. Again, I get it, no hard feelings. Still my favorite retailer.
‘Allocation’ usually means that the wholesaler has a set amount that each retailer can buy. My allocation at store A may be 3 cases, another store may have a 6case allocation if they do more business with that wholesaler or if they have a tie in with non allocated wines from the same winery. If the response to an offer is strong, the retailer may also be able to go back and request any extras that may have been passed over by other accounts, or if it’s a lukewarm response then the retailer can stand pat and not invest the extra money.