Leve Opens Mouth...Confuses World On Costco's Wine Program

WINE TALK
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http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?p=2763824#post2763824" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Makes sense that they no longer want to play in the online realm as they have very recently been selling off inventory ONLINE on the cheap. In no way are they shutting down their in store wine program…no f’ing way.

Once again Mr. Leve wants the world to see how tied into BDX he is, and it just creates confusion and speculation.



edited for spelling

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Oh…this isn’t an eBob/Squires/RMP/Leve bashing attempt. Just a PSA that things get said, inferred, whatever and the wine world shakes.

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Great thread title… it’s very accurate. Of course Costco online doesn’t do me a shit of good being in VA, and all they seem to have in the store is Sterling and Kendall Jackson. Oh lucky days!!!

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Maybe the emails hinted at a necessity of liquidity? Did they ask him to wire a paltry sum to an offshore account (oh I dunno, maybe in Nigeria) which in turn will net him a profit 100x his contribution? Color me confused.[scratch.gif]

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What’s wrong with Leve bashing? I’d like to see a seperate section of this Board dedicated to it.

I volunteer to be Moderator. Moderation would be quite light.

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[pillow-fight.gif]

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I learned way back in 2004 or so that never opening a thread that Leve started or even contributed to has made life so much nicer. More recently I’ve learned that this might go for all of the moderators over on ebob.

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Thinking that Costco will halt any retail operation of wine is ludicrous. I’ll give him that Costco.com may exit the scene, but thats about it.

Costco doesn’t swing from Bordeaux’s ballz - in fact, its more likely the other way around.

Maybe some should take note of Costco’s actions…they could learn something.

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Agreed, Lance. Costco is the largest seller of wine by FAR in the U.S., so if they refuse to play the game that Bordeaux has forced on the whole market, they will lose out (Bordeaux, that is). Good luck maintaining even CLOSE the same quantities that Costco provided you in your sales to consumers.

Perhaps this is the 800lb gorilla acting on behalf of consumers to stop the bullshit marketplace that is Bordeaux.

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Todd - that was essentially my conclusion that I posted on the ‘other board’.

I bought a ton of 05 Bord from Costco and was really hoping to score some discounts on 06’s there. After tasting many 06’s recently, I am a little gun-shy though. Regardless of that, it was my intent to scoop up some good deals at local Costco’s like I did with the 05’s. I’ve held out with the firm belief that Costco would come in after all the fallout has occurred and bought up stale inventory from the pipeline. Whether they actually do this or not will be interesting to watch play out. Its not like the 2007 vintage is pushing them to play the game.

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I’m also sure Bordeaux was expecting Costco to swoop in and buy all that inventory sitting around unsold - there is so much of it, only Costco would be able to sell it. It will be interesting to see what happens…

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What is going to happen is nothing. BDX will continue to be sold at Costco and Mr. Leve will miss this call just like he claimed BDX prices would never come down. From what I understand, and has been stated above, Costco is THE largest buyer of BDX by a long stretch. They might not be able to dictate a price, but they can definitely throw some leverage to get a decent deal. To even insinuate that email were sent that alluded to Costco getting out of the wine business is ludicrous. Yellow Tail, Beringer White Zin and Franzia alone should keep them going.

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In the meantime, go grab some Grand Cru Chablis for $30.

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Yeah, that one was tempting. Not a killer deal ($45 elsewhere) but still excellent. If it had shipping included, I’d likely spring for a couple.

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I dunno Serge. Some people like the taste of their own feet.

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I picked up a couple. even with shipping its still a decent deal.

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Hi Bill

Are you willing to make a wager about Costco.Com getting out of the wine business? You state nothing is going to happen. My claim, basedon actual Emails from people at Costco says Costco.Com is not going to sell wine. Are you up for a friendly wager?

Next, please read exactly what I wrote and try not to misquote me. The Email was very clear that I posted. It read “First off, (and more importantly), the wine department of Costco.com is going away. This decision came from up top, so we were in the process of marking down all of our wines across the board until we sell out. As you can see, we have little or no selection left”.

That was followed up by;

“Due to laws coming up in WA that govern the delivery of wine, we are forced to get out of the wine business online.”

It did not make any mention about Costco, which is different than Costco.Com. It also only referred to the wine department at Costco.Com and not any other department. Next, I clearly stated some reasons why I did not believe Costco would be a player in 2009. Please note, this is the exact language I used, which is quite clear and was very difficult for you to misconstrue;

“Sadly, it looks like the opportunity to purchase Bordeaux at great prices on release from Costco might be over”.

I used the terms “looks like” and “might be over” to specifically convey this as a possibility, not a fact. More importantly, I only mentioned Bordeaux. I did not discuss any other wine region.

To even insinuate that email were sent that alluded to Costco getting out of the wine business is ludicrous. Yellow Tail, Beringer White Zin and Franzia alone should keep them going.

Once again you failed to correctly read what I wrote. Please show me where I wrote Costco was getting out of the wine business. I do not mind being quoted, but I really do not like being misquoted.

In case you missed it the first few times I wrote it, the email I shared on the board was about Costco.Com, not Costco. Please note, even the title of my thread says Costco.Com. Next, my prognostications were simply prognostications and nothing more. Lastly, those prognostications were related solely to Bordeaux.

Are you up for a small friendly wager on which of us has it right in front of your entire website?

I do not want to spend my day arguing with you or anyone. But I would prefer you and others quoted me correctly.

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Jeff,

I’ll agree that you did state costco.COM. But what does the below have to do with the online retail?

From personal experience over the weekend, I went to my local Costco and the previously, well stocked wine section was almost gone. They moved the wine to a less visible place in the store and it was markedly smaller. That is not a good sign.

It seems to infer that the in-store business is dwindling as well.

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Exactly.

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Please keep this thread to costco’s wine program and not personal attacks. So far nothing bad has been written and Jeff has come to respond to comments made about his comments -let’s keep it this way please

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