Deleted post.
Uhhh… what happened to PaulDraper?? Not heard this tragic news yet.
Tom
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I believe he means that Paul is no longer active in the winemaking.
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I’ve been on the list since the 2007 vintage and I have never had to buy the Estate wines. I thought that was only for new signups?
Yeah. MB list since 2000 and no requirements for other bottles. Also Zin list.
Good by?
Good buy?
Good bye?
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Good By Ridge is a bit different than Goodbye Ridge !!
Which is different than Good Buy Ridge.
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My take on the perennial subject still stands, especially with the 2019 Estate wines coming up - great value, would buy anyway, substitutions possible: Ridge '20 Monte Bello - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
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Kevin, has the price of the 2021 Monte Bello futures come out yet? I have not seen or heard yet.
Ed
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Indeed. When I first read the thread title I thought Ridge was introducing a new entry-level wine line…and further thought they should probably get a new marketing person!
Not Kevin, but the email for the futures offering, along with the prices, has been coming out later each of the past years -
2017 allocation notice 26 Feb 2018
2018 allocation notice 25 Feb 2019
2019 allocation notice 31 Mar 2020
2020 allocation notice 21 Apr 2021
I suspect they’re waiting until the final assemblage is completed (or at least very close) so they know what quantity will be available. It seems like a good idea to avoid repeating some of the missteps with previous futures offers.
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For the last 11 years their futures price has increased an average 5.6% per year, and last year it was only 2.8%. That’s more than inflation, but less than the stock market. Still seems reasonable to me especially compared to the climbing prices of high end Napa cabs.
Although I do wish for the time when prices stayed at a flat $80 for several years. And my records are spotty for 2003-2005 but I had a note that I bought the '04s for $65. I’ve been Z-list and MB Futures since at least '03 - no requirement to buy Estate wines, but they are also a pretty good buy.
Year Price % Increase
2006 $80.00
2007 $80.00 0%
2008 $80.00 0%
2009 $80.00 0%
2010 $85.00 6.3%
2011 $90.00 5.9%
2012 $95.00 5.6%
2013 $98.00 3.2%
2014 $105.00 7.1%
2015 $110.00 4.8%
2016 $115.00 4.5%
2017 $124.00 7.8%
2018 $132.00 6.5%
2019 $141.00 6.8%
2020 $145.00 2.8%
Average 5.57%
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My CT entry for the 05 was $65.
Damn. I would back-up a truck at that price now. It was expensive for me then.
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2000/2001 (the only vintages in my cellar) were $65
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Still seems reasonable to me especially compared to the climbing prices of high end Napa cabs.
This is the problem though. It’s like getting beaten three times a day. If your guards say they’ll work a deal with you and only beat you once a day, it seems reasonable.
But only in that context.
We used to drink a lot of Napa wine and I bought MB futures for years. I stopped a while ago, not because of the price increases but just because i had plenty of wine already. And the prices of other Napa Cabs kept increasing.
The increases got more and more ridiculous and I stopped buying most Napa Cabs. And classified Bordeaux. Why would I pay $200, $250, or more for a single bottle when there is so much wine in the world that’s just as good and not as expensive? It’s true, that wine won’t be from some particular vine on some particular hill. But so what? There’s brilliant wine being made all over the world, and also in CA, that doesn’t carry the price tags of some Napa wines. I’ll leave the Napa wines to the people who want to pay for those and I won’t feel like I’m missing out on anything life-changing, as I’ve had many Napa Cabs, I have plenty in the cellar, and I’m very happy to explore and find other wines, grapes, regions, and wine makers. That discovery is far more interesting to me anyway.
Not criticizing and I don’t begrudge the wine makers for getting everything they can since I would do the same, but it doesn’t seem reasonable to me to contribute my dollars.
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I think this is a challenge for anyone buying Napa wines. Hard to justify high end wines over a long period of time with big price increases when there is so much good wine available elsewhere for less.
I have a very Napa heavy cellar and there will be a point where I need to greatly scale back buying. Napa will be the biggest area I cut buying from when I reach this point.
I am not surprised to see people balking at the new price. If you have supported a winery, your price expectations are relative to the previous year not to the market in general.
And that is the problem. Given the quality, Ridge pricing is extremely low compared to its peers.
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Too bad there aren’t No Strings Attached and you have to say Bye, By, Buy.
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Their pricing is still great especially compared to the competition (which have had some insane price jumps over the last couple of years).
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