Just got the release email. One of my few big buys of the year.
Up to $220 a bottle for the 18’ pre-release. 100 points from WA and JD.
Got my offer, new to the list. They are asking me to buy bottle of 2017 for every 2018 I purchase.
Did not have any stipulations on what I could order besides Mary’s block being sold out but I don’t order that anyways. Went deep for the 18’ Estate Cab.
We are excited to announce that the long awaited debut of our new releases has arrived and that your allocation of these highly anticipated wines is now available for purchase.
Wine Releases
2018 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2018 Lyndenhurst Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
2020 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc
Your allocation is waiting for you in your account and can only be accessed by either ordering below or contacting us here at the winery. We sincerely appreciate your support for our family’s winegrowing estate and anticipate that you will enjoy these wines for many years to come.
Order by April 4th to Receive Pre-Release Pricing & Benefits
2018 Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
100 Points - Wine Advocate
“… the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon from Spottswoode explodes from the glass with bombastic notes of crushed blackcurrants, fresh blackberries and wild blueberries with hints of cardamom, lilacs, incense and fragrant earth, leading into wafts of pencil shavings and crushed rocks…”
-Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW
100 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
“One of the wines of the vintage, as well as a legendary Napa Cabernet that will compete with anything out there…”
-Jeb Dunnuck
2018 Lyndenhurst Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
“A wine well worth purchasing and cellaring… Beautifully rich, full-bodied, and concentrated.”
-Jeb Dunnuck
Ditto. I’m new to the list and when I log in, the wines are only available in pairs. Doubt that I’ll pull the trigger.
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I received the 2017 & 2018 pairing email too. Contemplating purchasing with a few Lyndenhursts as well…
Didn’t get an email but logged on to check my account and I too only have the ability to buy 2018s only if I buy 2017s. The minimum is a 6 pack commitment of 3 2017s and 3 2018s for $1380. Makes this an easy pass especially with all the other offers rolling in right now.
I’ve been buying since 2012 and bought a case of 2015 and a case of 2016, tasted the 2017 at a local tasting event and passed after tasting. As a reward for 5 years of buying — I “get” to buy a bottle of 2018 for every bottle of 2017 I didn’t want to buy last year.
To be blunt . . . WTF Spottswoode?
This is an easy buy … from anyone and everyone else but Spottswoode.
Ditto and I’ll be passing as well. I would have purchased a 3 pack of 2018 if offered but they made the decision easy for me.
I don’t like wineries “tying” the 2018s to the 2017s. But it’s a one-to-one ratio (unlike in old days you had to buy something like 6 bottles of Kistler Chardonnay to get one bottle of Pinot). Also, the 2017s are highly regarded.
That’s my 2 cents. Disclosure: I have bee buying Spottswoode from the winery for more than 20 years
Cheers
Scott
Don’t knock the winery if you skipped 2017, anyone who didn’t probably got the normal offer. This reminds me of 2012 offerings at many wineries, you had to buy 2011 if you missed it. This is going to be a high demand vintage, especially if AG delivers a favorable review on Thurs. Fingers crossed for a triple-hundo!!
Eh I think tying vintages together is sort of a sham. If you didn’t like the 17’s why be forced to buy them if you want the 18s? I can see you being dropped off the list or farther back in the list queue, but forcing them to buy the previous vintage to get the new one is pretty ridiculous.
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^^This
I would rather give my money to Spottswoode directly for the ‘18 than buy in the market. But, I will not buy wines I don’t want. I have no problem with a ‘penalty’ of moving to the back of the list or having a restricted allocation. But when your wines are available in distribution, tying the ‘18 to purchase of the ‘17 is a bold strategy, Cotton! Let’s see if it pays off for them!
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The 2017 is pretty widely available at retail for $220. How much are they expecting the 2018 to be at retail?
Great wine with some age, but haven’t bought direct for about 5 years. Took a look and now, if your not already an active member you have to buy same amount of the 17 in order to get some. I’ll wait until I see it retail as I don’t find value in their offer.
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SW did a similar thing with the 2015s, requiring a purchase of two 14s to every one 15. 14 was their biggest crop up to that point and 15 was ~1/3 the size. 18 is a huge crop (from a huge estate, for Napa) though so I would just grab them from retail when they come out.
I’ve passed on other offers waiting to load up on this one. Like others, I have been a 6 pack and case purchaser for many years, even when the wine can often be found cheaper at retail. I did skip the 2017 and will skip this “bundling” offer as well.
I suspect it will be available at retail and will grab it there.
I had no idea they were making people buy the previous vintage to get the new release in certain years. I have been buying since the 12’ vintage, not always in high quantities, but have never had any issues ordering what I wanted. I guess they are sitting on a lot of unsold 17 they want to dump. The 17 wasn’t available to purchase in my allocation except as a bundled set with one Lyndenhurst and one SB.
I admit to feeling a little hurt by this. (In a wine way, nothing grand.)
My wife and I have been case buyers for many years (15+? Maybe 20+.) We even cased up on the SB and hit the Lyndenhurst and Fieldbook wines each year. But last year the budget couldn’t handle it.
Now, not even an email. We are sub-email-worthy.
I went on my own to log in at the winery site and got the same bundle offer at the higher bottle price than the case price. There’s not even an institutional memory of us prior to 2015.
We kind of got ghosted.
I’ve always liked buying direct from the wineries, what would have gone to middlemen went right to a favored winery.
Spottswoode goes back to 1983 in our cellar, and I recently mentioned that it’s my wife’s favorite Cali cab…such bummer to lose them.
This is kind of a sad moment for us.
This is very sad to see. I’m not saying people should be pampered per se, but in a business like the wine business long term buyers should have some special treatment in my opinion. Just from a customer service standpoint. I realize businesses are working in a world wide economy and wine is becoming a more tech based industry, but personal customer service goes a long way in a “luxury item” industry. It can’t be that hard to keep a data base of total purchases along with yearly purchases so that the winery can keep up with their loyal customer base. I am not on the spottswoode list and haven’t purchased from them so I have no idea if this is a one off thing. Therefore, I don’t want to make any assertions about Spottswoode. It is just sad to hear any story like this when a long term relationship is so easily forgotten.
If you reach out to them directly and point how much wine you’ve bought in the past, and that last year was truly abnormal, I’m willing to bet that someone there will allow you to buy some of the 2018s without any of the 2017s. Whether you want to go through the effort is a different matter.