My offer came out this morning. $195 per 750, $10 more than last year’s price of $185. I also received a larger allocation (6 up from 4). Curious what the board thinks about the vintage and pricing.
My first year on the list and I received an allocation for 4 bottles. Guess a lot of people actually did drop.
4 bottles on your first offering? Interesting, this would be my third futures offer with only 2 bottles allocated… but I buy basically nothing else from them besides the 3 estate bottles each year.
The notice also states: “Your member-exclusive futures pricing listed is approximately 40% off the final release price.”
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$195 is 40% off of $325.
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They must like you guys more–this is my 7th offer and I’m still at 2 bottles (although I haven’t looked back to see if I’ve declined 4 in the past). Also ATP and I have purchased some from the tasting room during visits.
$195 is starting to feel steep. I suppose it’s still somewhat of a value, but it’s similarly priced to back vintages that I can enjoy now, don’t have to pay to store for 20 years, and don’t have to buy on futures.
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Change $195 to whatever the release price is and there’s a thread/post on this same situation, every time.
One example - 2017 Ridge Monte Bello Futures - $124/bottle
That said, at $195/per, and my 4-bottle allocation, I’m reconsidering, myself.
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We went up to Monte Bello a few weeks ago to taste the First Assemblage. It was a blend of 74% CS, 18% Merlot, 5% Petite Verdot and 3% CF. I liked it a lot. John Olney said it reminded him a bit of the '12 and the '13 vintages, with the elegance of the '12 and the power of the '13.
We are buying, based on the samples that we tasted. Yes, the price is getting high, but we live within 90 minutes of so of both the Cupertino and Healdsburg locations, and try to get up there at least 3-4 times a year to help justify the cost. Both are fun places to visit, and you will always get served some great wine!
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That likely could be it. We are also on the z-list and make some additional purchases throughout the year.
i agreed, as the price keep increasing in this rate, while plenty decent condition older vintage MBs are on auction sites available at around the same price, this releasing price is starting to be a bit steep for me as well… may be my last purchase…but we’ll see next year!
I just emailed them to reduce my allocation to 2 bottles, and strong consideration to cancel altogether. It’s available everywhere, as has been pointed out, and when the ‘release price’ doesn’t align at ALL with aftermarket pricing it’s not a smart futures purchase, methinks
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While I generally agree with your sentiment, the price is not risen to the level where you can now buy your choice of multiple vintages of MB for the same price or less. In the past, you would give them your money a year or two ahead of time. Ridge got a substantial increase in cash flow, and you received wines that when delivered would have a substantially higher value than the price you paid. This is no longer the case.
Correct
I paid $171.25 per bottle for this wine, tax/shipping included.
For the 2019, as another example, I paid $156/bottle
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I reduced my order. I have many bottles of MB in the cellar and need to find some way to curtail my purchases.
I started out many years ago with a standing order of 6 x 750ml + 1 Magnum. Ridge was one of the early wineries to ship to my Brave Little State. Under the prior law, I would fill out a form from the State Liquor Control Board and mail it to Ridge. They would include the form in my order box and ship it via common carrier. So easy and no fee to do so. The law has since changed.
I made a couple of reductions over the years and am now down to two bottles as my regular order.
Someone needs to arrange for a Monte Bello tasting in the tri-state area so I can share some bottles.
I was iffy last year at $185, but stayed due to the historic vintage. Will be dropping this year.
I just joined the waiting list two weeks ago and got an allocation of four bottles. Have not yet purchased the estate wines as I believe that was in March. I was an ATP member around a decade ago but cancelled that years ago.
Seems like a bad sign.
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I dropped last year. I’m not going to do business with a winery that seems to have no qualms about selling smoke tainted wines.
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All in for my regular standing order of six bottles and three mags.
I’ll be turning 50 in a couple of months and it won’t be too much longer before I consider cutting back the order, although I’m likely to keep one mag and maybe swap another for halves…I’d guess another five to seven years or so. We shall see.
Yeah, some vintages can be found at very attractive prices, but I already have plenty of those in the cellar, and I know the provenance of my bottles. So it’s still worth it to me to buy direct. Obviously we all have our limits and our own decisions to make.
I’m just tired of holding bottles that won’t be drinkable for 20 years. Plus the space they take up year after year regardless of price and vintage. I’d say put your money into more short term wine.
My allocation went up to 6 bottles as well. I think I’ll still buy, but we are getting close to the magical $200 mark and there are lots of options in this price category.