Current state of wine market

I don’t think blue chips are impacted by tariffs nearly as much as consumer thinks unless the importer wants them to be…we have heard for so long that the price in US is crazy and that people have only seen modest jumps from the Domaine living in Europe, that is not the Domaine selling it to importer for an astronomically higher price than at Domaine.

There is plenty of margin in there to absorb 15% of FOB in many cases where the compression goes to the retailer to stop making 60-90% and instead make 25-35%.

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In theory and it seemed like that was happening at first, but lately I’m seeing those retailers suddenly up 20% on the latest releases.

2021 was the vintage he cited as the reason for the producers’ concern. I guess the bump in prices didn’t work out for everyone.

Yeah it was idiotic and they ended up having to close it out for 50% less than they’d tried to get. Now prices for 2021s have sort of overcorrected. I think there are a lot of excellent, well priced 2021s in the market right now like Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze for ~2k which is pretty decent for an excellent wine.

Someone who needs the cash flow….

Like the wineries…

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I was able to buy a couple allocatable wines out of Europe with a -15% discount to what I had previously paid for them. But with weaker USD and tariffs… it was effectively the same price.

I have been a big fan of K&L for many decades, both selling to them and buying from them.

But the quote about the ‘integrity’ of Christian Moueix and his team sticks in my craw!

The definition of ‘integrity’:
“Oh shit, it’s not selling through at $300, we better cut the price to $250.”

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I got some at Costco a couple years ago for $199. $250 is too high too.

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Our Skurnik rep was in today. Half the conversation was which wineries and/or distilleries got dumped by which distributors, ( or vise versus) and who ( if anyone) has them now. Got dizzy. What distributor inventory is getting dumped at what price. It may be months before the new distributor can get near normal prices for some brands . Some brands are getting slaughtered as distributors dump inventory.

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You really think that the winery is the source of that 2022 spotswoode on winebid?

That’s your opinion though. I would definitely pay the price for Raveneau, and think it’s easily 5 times better than any other Chablis I can find, so the price can be justified, to me.

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I didn’t express my opinion. I just said there’s a price to value on every wine - including ones that are singular - and each person has to make his own decision.

As far as my opinion, Rav is the only Chablis I buy.

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Who else is willing to sell at that price, less the fees paid to WineBid to sell at auction?

Anyone selling this after buying at winery direct is losing over $100 per bottle in doing so and anyone who paid retail is losing $60-80 + fees…

To my knowledge a distributor isn’t getting this steep of a discount.

This isn’t the only winery I see pricing on WineBid well below release price for a new release.

You think Spottswoode is so desperate for cash that they’d harm their brand for another 1-2k? I mean maybe, but i don’t see why it couldn’t just as easily be a retailer or distributor in need of liquidity willing to take a small loss.

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Children/relatives of the dead owner.

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Could be any of the above and its fair to ask the question.

Happens all the time.

Most times it’s folks who want to stay on the list, but don’t want that vintage. So they take the hit and move on.

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10 bottle lot at $100 below release pricing not including WineBid’s fee; that’s a hell of a premium to pay to stay on a list when the wine is available at retail.

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That sounds like “I drank 2, and don’t like this”

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