I’ve gotten allocations for a few years from SQN after having been on the waitlist for 8+ years. These prices are going up so fast. Over $2K now for a 6 pack from Eleven Confessions? Please, someone, convince me it’s still worth buying at this price!
Many times you can buy at auction for cheaper and you don’t have to buy as much.
Andremily is a fraction of the price.
this, plus SQN is reliably available on the secondary market for way, way less than release these days. Odd time for them to raise prices, seems a bit tone deaf.
Well they hadn’t raised prices in four years, so they were due. The amount of the increase was a surprise, yes. For as long as I have been buying prices were the same for 4-5 years and then increased $15-$30 per bottle. So a $57(+/-) increase on the reds was surprising.
I wonder if they are trying to weed out the flippers (not that flipping SQN is still profitable) and trying to get the wines into the hands of folks on the waiting list. In that scenario, I wonder just how many folks on the wait list will become active purchasers given the price. When many wait listers signed up, these were still $250/b.
For this release my delivered per bottle price is $377+ and $201+ for the reds and white, respectively, and I’ll be stewing on this one until the end of the month. These aren’t wines I could drink every day, even if I could afford to do so, but they do scratch an itch once in a while. For me, there’s a really good chance it now makes much more sense to pick up a bottle or two here & there in the secondary market to scratch the itch when it arises.
I opened a 2017 No 6 syrah two days ago. Tried a glass pop and pour and was too massive. Day 2 last night it was singling and I had two glasses. One left for tonight ![]()
The few of his syrahs I have opened I pour into a decanter in the early AM for evening drinking. They can decant ALL DAY long. The EABA drinks better earlier than the syrahs.
I’ve said for years now that when either Manfred or I retires I’m dropping off the list. I retire in 16 days. Outta here.
Enjoy your retirement, Joe! It has been over 8 years for me…enjoying the ride!
Cheers,
JP
Our Denver Wine Group had an event a year of so ago where both were present. Both good wines and too big for me, to the point I had trouble distinguishing which was which and if one or the other was better.
Have not opened one since!
the market had weened out flippers already
Agreed. I dont think Elaine reads the room as well as Manfred did, and she is driving the boat on the business side
I missed the cellar tour last time, cant forget this time… how does SQN go with cassoulet? ![]()
Has it? What do you base that on?
Elevations from the mailing list have only seemingly happened within the last handful (maybe two or three more than handful) of years, and my impression is that the floodgates haven’t opened- it seems like it’s been a trickle more than mass turnover.
stood up 2001 VT CnP and a couple of other reds and whites. No SQN
My cellar is very unimpressive compared to others in the group!
That usually how these things go — by the time you make it off the wait list, there isn’t any point in buying anymore.
I base it on the secondary market premium no longer being there. This is not a SQN only issue but it is certainly the state of the market, And that change happened a couple of years ago, so that would coincide with some new people being added. I think the majority of the SQN buyers like the wine and are not flippers, i certainly did not buy to flip. But i did stop buying a few years back at the previous increase. But honestly, probably would have done so without the increase. I have plenty of SQN, by far the largest producer in my cellar and that is without buying since 2017 EBA, 2019 “regular”
I am very much looking forward to that - havent had a more restrained CnP in a loooong time
That’s kind of my point. It’s only been the last few years that one was unable to realize a consistent profit on flipping the wines. I too am a long-time buyer and - for the most part- holder/consumer of the wines (still my #2 producer in terms of total holdings). Threads here, IMO, only seem to suggest that relatively small numbers were being elevated from the mailing list within the last few years.
Thus far their pricing model has remained fairly consistent- hold the line for 3-5 years and then increase the price per bottle by $7-20 (well, for as long as I have been tracking such info). This year is more than double the usual increase, so those “old timers” on the list, now well aware that there is no profit to be gained by flipping, are more likely to drop off, if they hadn’t already- and I think relatively few had. I think with this larger than usual increase, we’ll see a much more significant turnover of their list…more people saying “I just made the list” than in years past.