I wrote this on the board a few years back, maybe it’s relevant to Dan:
I don’t think this happens but rarely with any lists I buy off of, and if it does, the odds that the price difference is enough to be worth making a separate order and paying separate shipping for the wine in question is very low.
I think, however, this is quite common with your big wineries, when you buy off their club or buy directly from them at their tasting room or off their website.
For example, I just looked on BV’s website. If you join their wine club, you get 20% off their wines and products. However, their 2012 Tapestry Reserve is $65 from the winery, so with a 20% discount it’s still $52, plus you’ll be paying shipping unless you pick them up in person. At Costco today in Fountain Valley, the 2012 Tapestry Reserve was $39. On WSPro, you can find legit retailers selling this for as little as $23 (Leiser’s) and $27 (Sokolin).
Or look at the 2012 Georges de Latour. $135 on BV’s website, or $108 after your wine club discount. This same wine is widely available at $75-80 looking on WSPro.
Clubs at wineries like BV are neither for the bargain shopper nor the WBer type. I think they exist for one or more of the following: (a) as a convenience to someone who wants to have their wines arrive regularly without having to think about it or do anything, (b) for people who make an impulse decision, probably while visiting the tasting room and having a lovely time, without really doing any homework about the value proposition, and (c) for people who are into the events and tasting room, and maybe the prestige of telling people they’re in the wine club, and don’t really care about the pricing and all.
And that’s fine - I don’t mean to imply that everyone in the world needs to spend a bunch of time paying the least they can for everything - but I think that sort of explains what is going on with those kinds of clubs.
I don’t know of many wineries that are the subject of a lot of interest and discussion here on WB where this is the case, and if it is, it’s more likely a single bottling or two from a winery that pop up on a discount somewhere, not a consistent and large discount available widely at retail as compared to the winery’s price. If that were the case, I wouldn’t be buying from that winery either, probably not at retail or direct.
I understand that wineries walk a fine line about not undercutting their distributors, but they should feel even more strongly about not undercutting their club and list members. I get that they aren’t responsible when a store somewhere clears out a wine of theirs for cheap and I have no problem with that happening, but if you’re consistently selling at substantially above retail pricing, I wouldn’t be part of that. Frank is right that we have connections and fondness for the wineries we love, but I don’t think I’d be feeling much of a connection if they were charging me $53 for wine I could buy for $25-30 in stores and doing so on a regular basis, while pretending I’m getting a 20% discount. Loyalty is a two way street.