“This summer, the California Pinot Noir star will add five bottlings from France’s Burgundy region to its portfolio: 2020 Pinot Noirs from Beaune (a blend of Les Bressandes and Les Teurons), Gevrey-Chambertin, Pommard and Volnay ($125 each), plus a Chardonnay from Meursault ($120).”
and
“… in some cases, they purchased already-fermented wine after harvest, but with others, they were able to acquire grapes and must and had more control over the processes.”
It seems a bit surprising to me that they are expanding in this way when it appears their once lengthy wait list has evaporated. Maybe they think adding more SKUs is an answer?
I’m not interested, but it’s smart. The most valuable thing KB has is a large mailing list of people who ostensibly enjoy Pinot-based wines. This allows them to offer additional products to those customers.
A difference is those transactions included acquiring vineyards or land to be developed into vineyards. While owning vineyards in Burgundy may be Duckhorn/KB’s ultimate goal, there’s been no public announcement (that I’ve seen) of that direction.
Well now we have proof that indeed All roads do in fact lead to Burgundy. If Kosta Browne found it they better start adding a couple of lanes now for when their list finds the on ramp.
Wait, are these village wines at a $120 price point? There are many excellent, long-established and well respected Burgundy producers who aren’t charging that price for their villages
Yes, but you’re not the market for these wines. They’re not going to try to be Fourrier or whatever. The target market for these wines is KB buyers who’ve heard that Burgundy is good but have no idea what to buy–so they’ll buy something from the source they know. A premium for familiarity and convenience. I don’t know if it will work, but it’s not illogical.
Well, I like this because it makes me feel thrifty and smart for knowing and buying actual Burgundy which is a very rare occurrence. But I wonder about the business sense. Kosta Browne purchasers are already buying premium wines so they are presumably not naive beginners. Wine stores everywhere are full of say Drouhin village Burgundies for $70. People are going to pay $50 more just because KB imports a similar wine with a different label? Significant bet on your customers not knowing anything about Burgundy.
