2021 Memento Mori offer is now live for Dr Crane and Las Piedras. Dr C is $395 and LPV is $350. For the 2019 vintage release they were $225 each. It’s a race to see who can have the most ludicrous price increases.
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I was looking the offer right now and I was thinking the same thing.
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No faster way to lose business than to raise prices like this. Bordeaux pricing looks REAL good right now.
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Why’s it so expensive? ::waahhhhh::
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I went in October and it was a great visit and really want to support this winery but I agree.
I thought the SV were $350 and now I see $395 on the Crane. Was that also recently increased?
Add on $50 to ship one bottle and another $50 in sales tax.
I should just buy first growths instead.
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Hi Mike,
If you could call Andy for me and talk to him about price increases I would appreciate the help. Us little guys in Napa compete with the entire world (who is coming into Napa and buying up wineries left and right) to get this insane fruit. There is a line longer than I care to admit waiting for wineries to drop it so they can scoop it up at any price. This is combined with inflation on everything (incudling farming costs) which allows prices to continually go up. I don’t think it is appropriate to say exactly how much prices are moving up in Napa but I will say that it is substantial.
Basic stuff like cardboard boxes have gone up almost 300% in the last 3 years. source. Foam is doing the same. There are bottle shortages too.
But the good thing is we had a lot of wine in 2020 to help with cash flows and keeping things good with our bank (Silicon Valley Bank).
Oh wait, we barely had any wine to sell in 2020 and SVB went under. Good thing First Republic was there to help… lol
Anyway, I am sorry that all this turmoil in the market is being passed on to the consumer who is just wanting to enjoy some great wine. I promise we still love making it and really value everyone that has supported us. We are doing out best to navigate through the lava and fallout of the economy.
But most importantly, the 2021 vintage is insane and what we have in barrel is looking incredible as well. The 2023 is already being touted as the vintage of the century. I am sure that you along with all of us in Napa hope for a soft landing for the economy this year and things to start booming again.
RTL,
Hayes Drumwright
Co-Founder Memento Mori
aka - The Guy That Raised The Prcie to Ludicrous Levels
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Yep it makes some of the top tier Bordeaux pricing look really good
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I didn’t even bother opening the email or following the allocation link. I just came here to make sure before I deleted it as I knew the pricing would be insane
@Hayes_Drumwright your activity here on the board is certainly appreciated by all I am sure. We all know the price of everything is increasing these days that is inevitable. My question to you as a producer and consumer at what point as a business do you say…“Okay I think we are reaching a pricing celling” and not continue to raise prices at the risk of alienating your customer base?
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I’ve been thinking about this a bit given a few of the threads re pricing for wines sourcing fruit from the Beckstoffer vineyards. This is a bit of a rhetorical question, but is the fruit really worth it? There are plenty of great wines being made in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Cruz that aren’t made from Beckstoffer grapes. Some are less expensive and some are in the same range, but it’s definitely a choice to be working with that fruit. I do not envy the choice being made at Memento Mori and other similarly situated wineries, and I think it’s good for people on this board to remember that this is ultimately a small sliver of the Napa wine buying market. But, the reactions to these prices seem significantly negative to the point that it makes me think businesses might be better off with different fruit sources and letting someone else in the line try their hands at those price points. Some of the brands that have come into the market recently trying those price points - Impensata - seem to have struggled to gain traction and sell through what they produce. Established brands testing that level are to some extent trading on the goodwill generated by their track records, but that isn’t an unlimited runway.
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The day he wants to default in his debt and shut his doors.
Amiclose?
It seems to me that the only way this changes is:
A) wineries stop paying the $$$ per ton that they are (but as was pointed out there is a long line of wineries willing to jump in and pick up whatever is dropped). No demand =‘decreased pricing right?
B) consumers stop purchasing at these prices (which certainly hurts wineries like MM that are just trying to produce top notch wines)
Rock and a hard place . . .
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Jeff,
In all honesty the price hikes this year scared the crap out of us. All the reports are coming out saying this is the worst wine economy (especially for luxury brands) that we have seen in decades. The projections are not good. We are incredibly grateful we received 2x 100 pt scores on the wines at MM this year because some people do care about that and it helped a ton. Cash flows in the business got really tough and then the 23 vintage came in 30-40 percent heavier than expected. This combined with the Napa banking industry bacially going under made coming up with payments for harvest costs very difficult for so many. MM is in a great place because we have been running a business plan with failsafes in place since covid hit. I stated in another post we hate raising the price and hope these prices stick for at least 7-8 years. But if something weird happens with elections or war or some other macro econimic event (like fires, us all getting quarantined again) I don’t know what we will need to do. (I mean at that time we were doing Zoom tastings.)
I will predict right now that in the previous 12 months and the next 24 you will see more of your favorite small wineries sell out than ever before. I think that is super sad. I hope collectors understand what they are doing when they get mad about price increases and then go buy a medium sandwich at Jersey Mikes for 18 dollars.
And all this said, Memento Mori wine is worth every single penny and then some. I am usually pretty humble about this stuff, but the 2021’s are screaming. They are as good or better than anything in your cellar from us. You will also not find it online. I have stopped selling retail to protect you all when you buy. Auctions and people selling their cellars will be your only shot at it.
And all this said, this release will most likely sell out by this time tomorrow if not sooner. And honestly I thank god for that because we are putting our heart and soul into this brand.
RTL,
Hayes
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Could you buy bottles, foam, and cardboard from the wineries that sell those things for 30 bucks, including the contents?
Apologies for being snarky, but it was an unrelatable example!
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This!
I think some of these smaller high-end and boutique producers should at least start looking at other quality vineyards throughout California. The amount per ton of Beckstoffer fruit is insane.
And yes, you are right (it’s a choice to work with Beckstoffer fruit). I understand the acclaim and appeal that fruit furfills, but is it really worth it?
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Your wines are amazing. No doubt. Wineries are having a tough go of it as has been communicated by other owners on WB. I have found they have predominantly approached the topic with sincerity and compassion for others. You…not so much. But I do appreciate that you stopped selling to retail to protect us. What other motivation could you possibly have?
Sorry you didn’t like the sincerity. I get that. There are 2 other threads where I wrote a book or two explaining all this before in Aug/Sept timeframe. I think they are pretty easy to find if you are interested in sensitive writing. (being a romance writer is my real motivation, glad you picked up on that.)
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All this love and understanding. It’s a wonder more winemakers don’t contribute here. 
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You’re just proving my point but I suspect you’ll comment again.