Based on a couple of recent threads I was curious, which wine have you loved that you stopped buying because they became a ‘darling’, ‘WOTY’, ‘100 pts’ and have increased so much in price that you don’t bother with them anymore?
For me It’s Vietti single vineyards.
So what about you? Is there a particular wine that you collected for more than a couple of vintages but because of price, you can’t seem to pull the trigger anymore?
Dow’s 2007 and 2011 VP.
Nothing comes to mind except Les Forts de Latour. At current prices (which are ridiculous considering I bought over a case-and-a-half of the 2001 Les Forts at around US$37/bottle in 2004 or 2005), I might as well just spend more and get the grand vin.
Best,
N
Harlan. I put my name on the waiting list some time in the early part of the last decade and by the time they offered me wine, the price had gotten even more obscene and I never bought any. Saved me a lot of money.
Les Forts de Latour - Ridiculous does not do it justice. I had some early 1970s FULL bottles that I bought in the mid 1970s for $3 each when the grand vin was way out of reach. All gone. Very nice wine, though, for a second bottling.
Wines I used to buy
Harlan
Araujo
Spottswoode
Shafer
Joseph phelps
Diamond creek
Rochioli
Dalla Valle
Bond
Kapcsandy
Likely Spottswoode if it goes up to the $175 mark
Spottswoode easily hits two bills for 2013 with the reduced crop and hint of another RMP hundy.
Bill they haven’t released their 2012’s, have they?
smith haut lafitte
dom chevalier
most of CdP
Chave
I’ve cut back on the number of bottles that I buy of
Ridge Montebello
Lopez De Heredia GRs
I’m leaving Burgundy out because it isn’t clear how much of the price explosion is due to short crops.
Clape and Allemand are the two most recent
Kosta Browne prices went up too fast for me to keep up with. Was it because of the scores? Possibly, but I don’t know for sure.
Chateau Lafleur is the most dramatic. Before discovered and pimped by Robert Parker in the early '80s, I bought cases of it annually for less than $20/bottle.
Clape is the most recent.
Mascarello Monprivato
Not yet, large crop might keep cost at $165-175.
Zero that I can think of.
I am usually ahead of the critics or like wine that are either not rated or scores don’t matter (e.g. German Riesling).
That is not to say I am not priced out of wines - I am definitely frustrated by the prices and lack of availability on a number of wines.
I’m not sure, and to be fair it’s not the critics that bump prices up directly, but rather those that put their faith in what the critics recommend (and the retailers / wineries recognising and adapting to this).
I suppose there a number of wines that I used to buy, but no longer would, that might be put down to critics, points chasers or just an innocent re-alignment of prices to reflect what was all along good stuff, or any number of other reasons.
I know that when starting out, I did assume that if Halliday, Hooke or Oliver gave an high mark, that it would be ‘good juice’. I didn’t actively points chase, but if I saw a wine available I would look at their reviews and would trust them if they said it was really good and gave a high score (say 93+), and if they gave it something in the 80s I’d believe them and avoid buying the wine. That in a nutshell is how easy it is for critic’s to influence buying and hence prices.
In time I grew more confident in my palate, so although I still read reviews and take into account what they say, I recognise the score = what they think, not what I would think. So they liked it - why? Even the most enthusiastic tasting note may turn me off if it sounds awful w.r.t. my preferences.
I’m not sure Allemand has much to do with critics. Similar to Clos Rougeard, Fourrier, etc. It’s you, or that guy like you but with more cash.
Without a doubt -
DOMAINE TREVALLON Baux de Provence Rouge -
Before RP got a hold of it, I sold this wine for $6.99 a bottle. Now it’s over $40 a bottle -
Not bitching mind you, these things happen, so I could care less about all the trophy wines from Napa and Bordeaux that have seen huge increases. But, I loved Domaine Trevallon.
I can no longer access Parker or Spectator, but my recollection is that neither had reviewed Allemand for many years, until maybe the 2009 vintage. No, the wines were already not cheap, but they have definitely jumped a good 20-30% in the past couple of vintages. 2009 Reynard was still under $100 (I think I paid $90), and I paid $70 for 2008, less still for earlier vintages.
Both 2010 Mascarellos, particularly Bartolo.
Allemand is painful and might be out of reach in 2012. I might disagree that critics scores caused the increase. Seems more supply and demand among afficionados might be the cause, where we only have ourselves to blame.