Nobody’s going to mention the Moon Mountain Cab, Lot 419 Future for #399 a case?
OK, it’s been mentioned.
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Yeah, it came out a week or so ago. 200 cases still not sold out which seems to mean some combo of malaise, high price, and saturated marketplace for dN customers. I bit and will see how it is, maybe, but a 2022 wine is going to need a while to settle in. Hopefully someone else will open one to get a read on it. 
I tried the “see how much is left” trick today and it only let me add 60 cases to cart, but I think that was a new? limit in the website, not necessarily the number of cases left. Or maybe I did it wrong.
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419 got my attention, but frankly I have so much DN Cali Cab that it’s hard to imagine biting again, esp. at 15.5% ABV.
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I pretty sure that when I was checking during the Black Friday sales, the maximum I could load in the cart was the higher value of either the amount in dN inventory or 60 cases.
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Re 441. It just feels like it’s so many misses in the same offer:
- Amazing percent discount…nope. 60%
- In demand varietal like cab or Pinot….nope. Grenache Blanc…never had that so I certainly don’t need 12.
- Well known appellation like Napa or red mountain….nope. Lodi.
4 legendary producer or price point….nope. I’m sure it’s a lovely little vineyard/tasting room but that is more of one of the types of places you connect to bc you visited and connected to their story.
Sure they may have found a diamond in the rough but it’s like “7 degrees of Kevin bacon”…. Takes a giant leap to conclude that this average discount, from an average appellation (generally speaking), on an obscure varietal, from an obscure winery is worth buying…
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Ridge (who IS NOT this source) makes an excellent GB from Paso Robles that sells for $35ish a bottle. Does this compare? The source winery has a similar price point, but as Luke mentioned some traffic fatigue via the tasting room lately, this goes to de Negoce for $11/btl delivered. Would it satisfy a thirsty Texan in summertime? Hmmmm, obviously not Luke.
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And…up next de Negoce fans is a Lot 442 2023 Pinot Gris from Mokelumne River AVA.
Can we all be in agreement here, that Luke will pass on this one too? lol.
Cheers, Tim
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Hey Luke -
Great post . . . but there is a world outside Cab and Pinot from Napa / Sonoma / Santa Barbara County, right? 
Grenache Blanc is an awesome variety and it can be made in loads of different styles. It can be lean and crisp or more full bodied. And Lodi does grow some good ones - there are places near the Delta where it is not has hot as balls so to speak . . .
I agree that getting 12 might be a lot, but when you figure you’re getting 12 for price of 3 or 4 bottles of most chardonnays out there, it ain’t bad . . .
And I’m not trying to belittle your post whatsoever - just that it’s okay for them to offer ‘out of the box’ stuff as well as what most would consider ‘tried and true’ . . .
Cheers
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I actually thought of you, as I was writing this. I completely agree That there are great wines in lots of regions. The mailing list was built on the fact that sure it could’ve been the leftover juice for the second cut but at least it was Napa. At least it was a variety that Was fairly mainstream and at least the discount off of the retail price was reported to be 75%. And at least the offer Was vetted by a pallet that we had learned to trust his pallet. Rarely did an offer meet all five criteria listed above but a good offer checked most of the boxes so it didn’t feel like that much of a reach. This offer makes me feel like I am supposed to trust too many variable points
For example, I would be happy to try some of your wines when I’m out in California because I would be reassured that you would be giving me your first quality, You would have me sample the line to ease any concerns that I have that your very interesting blends/varieties are not just quirky but also delicious. I would have no problem paying $30-$60 a bottle for wine that I enjoyed and I understood. I’m just not sure that the DN model was set up for this many variable data points. At least not for me.
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I love Grenache Blanc, I’ve had @larry_schaffer’s and he makes a very good one. But @Luke_Newton’s points about quality vs. price, etc… as it relates to this $10 Lodi GB are all spot on.
There are other threads out there on Grenache Blanc, but Washington examples in the $30 range worth seeking out are Rotie, Cairdeas, Syncline. Two Vintners priced a bit lower at $20-25. This one I don’t have in my cellar now, but its previous vintages were best examples I’ve ever had of this variety. Two Vintners - Products - 2022 Grenache Blanc
For me, I wish dN had an exchange program. Take back the 10-11 bottles of the flyer I didn’t like (Zibbibo!) and give me half price on another flyer. I’d maybe even pay full dN price, just take the crap wine back! It’s a space and time compendium.
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This mirrors my feelings about these obscure dN offers of late perfectly.
I guess one could extrapolate this further. I’m happy to pay $20-50 per bottle more if I know the story behind it.
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But what style is this?
And why did this “legendary” producer not show up for BD and sell them to us direct?
To me, trying “off the beaten path” wines is not what dN is all about. The fact is, they make a lot of garbage wines unfortunately as well. dN for me is for solid sort-of-known-entity wines that are hard to get wrong. Napa cab at certain level is never going to be horrendously disappointing, so buying them at $10-20 per bottle will always be a good deal.
And sometimes you got an amazing deal, like the BV offers.
But a more obscure varietal from a more obscure region, how much anonymous GB from Lodi does one need? I just don’t see the value proposition here any more. Especially when I don’t trust their “retail” valuations at all any more after the past offer where they put a price on a bottle that they admit was never intended for sale in the first place.
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Yes!! Well said with less typos than me
fewer 
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I was gonna say littler
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Lot 441- Not many Lodi wineries make a Grenache Blanc, even fewer around that original price point and estate grown. Could be Bokisch. I’ve liked the GB (Fields and Acquiesce) that I’ve tried in Lodi so $10/bottle is not bad at all.
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Whew boy n. 68 back up and gone again.
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Man they are really trying to pull some fast ones. I just got the email 15% off, “unearthed gems”. Just browsing I saw 93 (Mendocino SVD Zin) that was $9 on release. Now it’s $18 in the shop, but with the magic 15% its yours for $15!
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Jesus ,they are emptying the shelves