I got a bit of a “heads-up” to this from Larkmead winemaker Dan Petroski last Fall, so I should have been better prepared for the sticker shock that came with the Spring letter from Larkmead. Seems they will be dividing their offerings into the Spring “Larkmead Vineyards” wines, consisting of their “Estate” wines (Cabernet Sauvignon, Firebelle, and LMV Salon), and the Fall “Larkmead” wines, consisting of older vines or single vineyard parcels (to include Solari, a classified Cabernet Sauvignon, and The Lark).
For Spring, the 2013 CS is $100/btl, 2013 Firebelle is $125/btl, and the 2013 LMV Salon is $150/btl. That’s $700 + tax and shipping for those scoring at home. And judging from their narrative the Fall offering will be more.
I’ll sleep on it because I like those folks a lot, but I may be out.
Really, what is there to sleep on? These prices are very aggressive. I know a lot of buyers like to remain loyal to their trusted producers, but in this case $100 for the non Reserve Cabernet?
Dropped them last year after watching their prices soar over the past several vintages and actually sold off my inventory. Have absolutely no interest in their wines at their current pricing (which has now doubled from three years ago, I believe) and haven’t looked back or missed them. Plenty of wine in the world that is better imo for a fraction of the cost.
I tasted there first during a trip to napa last year. Init illy liked it but after tasting from several other producers, I thought the other producers provided far better quality. i would drink the estate DR Stephens and the single vineyard dr’s (moose valley and Walther river) all day long over larkmead at those price points which are very comparable between the vineyards. That’s just one example off the top of my head where the wines are very close in price.
Ouch! I am traveling and have not seen my letter yet. I think their wines can be spectacular, but agree the pricing is out of control. The cabernet will likely be widely available in retail for similar pricing, if history holds. But I am dismayed at what could be a slip in quality to enable the new black label expected in the fall release. The firebelle is good, but not nearly worth that cost IMO. The LMV is arguably competetively priced, but I think you have to take the bundle.
I remember visiting Larkmead back in '11 as i was just beginning to learn my way around high end Napa cabs - impressive facility but my experience was that they force-fed me a mixed case…including the (2) of the '05 81pt beauties in order to have the opportunity to buy the 09 LMV salon. That was a learning experience that i paid for…still, i felt like i got played a little bit & haven’t been back.
On that same trip, our visit with Mike Smith at Myriad/Carter Cellars & with Juan Mercado at Realm couldn’t have been the opposite experience. My point is that if you expect someone to shell out $ 150/175+ regularly and build a loyal base of fans - great client service goes a long way. It seems to me by bumping up their $$ to compete with the likes of Carter’s & Realm’s of the valley they’re playing a game they’re going to lose.
Realm is a sore spot with me…I tried ordering my “allocation” on the morning they came out. Their system kept kicking me out (as it did others), and my choices were sold out by the time I tried again later in the day, and they have not replied to e-mails since then.
Yeah - I know the Realm guys jacked up the latest spring release allocation, I got shut out myself. Frankly, I am fine with how they handled it with the video apology to everyone - i just figure Juan owes me one and my wallet could use the rest anyway.
If you are really pissed, i recommend you call Juan’s cell - i believe it’s listed on the website and even in the video. I would be surprised if you didn’t get a call back.
And to update on the Realm front, I got a personal call from them this morning in which they apologized for the problems and offered me some wine. I was pleasantly surprised.
Discovered Larkmead about 10 years ago and loved the quality for the relatively low price (for a Napa Cab). Now that they have aggressively escalated their prices, time to say “see ya” and find the next QPR. Always good wine at better prices. The search is half the fun!
Longtime club member who dropped after 2011. I can’t imagine Firebelle at that price.
If you haven’t tried Robert Craig lately I’d strongly recommend it. Mt Veeder, Howell, Diamond and Spring Mtn wines that are in the $75 range if your a club member. You can taste in the tasting room in downtown Napa or better yet visit the winery at the top of Howell Mtn for a great experience. These are world class wines and solid values for Napa.
I’ve been buying Larkmead for a long time. Last year I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. After yet another price increase this year, I sent an email asking to be removed from the list. I liked Firebelle a lot at $50-60 (through 2008). Not so much at $125. Ditto the $150 LMV Salon, which was $80 as recently as the 2009 vintage. Maybe if my income had doubled over the last 4-5 years, I’d view the doubling of Larkmead’s prices differently. But given the increases, and a full cellar, it’s time to leave some on the table for somebody else.
I’m a huge fan of Larkmead’s wine but the price escalations are out of hand and, IIRC, the shipping for six bottles is over $60. The clincher for me was being told I could not buy any LMV Salon, as I had to be on the list for at least three years. I was able to grab a 2010 LMV Salon Magnum at auction for $165, so I got my LMV Salon after all and for a fraction of the direct cost.
Comical pricing. I purchased a lot of their 2002 Cab at $29.99. Still have some in the cellar and it is drinking beautifully. I have not purchased their wines for about ten years but it is a shame they are going this route with their portfolio. How can they foster loyal customers with this practice? I recommend backfilling with older vintages that are reasonably priced and moving on after that.
That 2002 is a beauty. I had the better part of a case over the last 7-8 years and it was just terrific each time. Glad I got to enjoy it while prices were reasonable.
I received the email on this yesterday and the $100 price for the base cab is accurate. For the 2012 vintage Larkmead released the base cab at $90 and then increased it to $125 shortly after. Will be interesting to see if they take a similar approach with the 2013.
visited Larkmead back in 2010, liked the wines at those price levels, but also declined to spend far more than I wanted to with the requirement to buy a mixed case to get the wines I liked.
May have gotten an email or two from them since, but really can’t recall it - certainly have not purchased anything from them since the tasting in 2010, when I bought a few of the lesser bottles with the credit of the tasting fee plus a bit more.
Yesterday I got the email with my allocation of 6 $100 cabs and 3 $240 magnums for the basic cab.
Not going to buy at those levels - even if I were tempted, I refuse to encourage any winery with a business model that sticks me with wine I don’t want or don’t need in order to get wine I do want. Plenty of great winemakers out there with a better relationship of price to value and a better sense of customer relations.
They must be blowing the dust off of some old e-mail lists. I was on their list years ago but never bought since I could usually find it cheaper at retail and they dropped me off the list. Now years later I’ve been added back. It seems they’re anticipating some blow back.