Given what I’ve seen (in a very small sample size) of what is available at Stadiums, I wouldn’t run away from this wine. Though if I am in a large setting in a suite I am likely not pulling out CellarTracker either, I get made fun of enough
If you are buying 2020 PNW wine you likely fall into the following:
I am not touching it camp
I realize there may be a risk and if the price/situation warrants it lets drink it (see being in a suite in a stadium with other likely sub par options)
what is the difference between 2020 and 2019 you say…
The answer is yes. First I have no issue with the producer selling it off disclosing what it is and discounting it appropriately. He conducted himself honorably IMO. Id have no issue with Costco/TJ/others selling it off at a low price either. That is not what is going to happen here. It going to be served to high level customers as a premium product for a premium price by a franchise that has been been abusing its fans for a couple decades. There in lies the difference
I agree. It’s just a guess (because SteM, as far as I can see from media reports, hasn’t issued details) but we are expecting them to cut production on their lower-tiered Riesling and others; and refocus to build the brand on their best offerings. Just want to remind that bottles <$8 are 60% of the wine market (that is, again to reemphasize, these data sets mainly track wines with bar codes mostly from larger retail outlets, so IMO these data are skewed — but valid for large producers and brands). This segment sees the biggest drop off due to a host of reasons discussed in other threads.
This is the way to go. Give ‘em a nice bourbon barrel finish. I can’t tell you how many people have told me what a great wine Cooper & Thief bourbon barrel is. I just smile and give them a vegemite sandwich.
Just received an email from Square— the rate is now 3.3% (plus 30 cents), up from 2.9%… that’s +14%… ouch. To be fair, they haven’t increased rates since 2016 but still.
Time since last rate increase doesn’t really make any sense here. They are just a pass-through for a merchant account. They were already adding a hefty percentage on top of true interchange rates and those rates haven’t changed, so why would their rate increase? Makes it all the more cost effective to have your own merchant account and pay 1.5-2% on many card types.
I agree. But also a big part of what we are paying for is an easy and attractive point of sale/invoicing system. (“Attractive” for the client-facing invoices sent via email.). And it needs to work well on an iPad and iPhone in my case. Don’t really care about the website functionality because that is all VinoShipper due to compliance issues and State by State reporting that VS handles as part of their fees. Not sure what else is out there— Stripe is still at 2.9% and I tried using them but the POS options were abysmal. PayPal is 3.49% so I didn’t consider them….
Stripe is eCommerce centric, very limited offering for in person payments. Take a look at Adyen - they’re doing a solid job on both fronts and pricing is fixed transaction fee plus interchange pass through, which should work out more favorably for a wine producer’s business model.
Wine Enthusiast mag’s annual list of the year’s Top 100 Best Buys has just been published (I don’t subscribe— got this from Paul Gregutt’s SubStack post.) The big news is magazine’s guidelines for inclusion are now wines priced $20 — instead of $15– or under (with 90+ pts WE). That price change recognition is a big deal. As stated above, SVB/Rob Mc (and other analysts?) still consider wines >$15 to be “premium.” I think Rob should change his nomenclature to “entry level” and <$15 would be “swill” or “juice” or “hooch”
Many chain stores have a ‘90/20’ section ($20 or under that get 90 points or more from ‘some source’). Probably not a coincidence that WE rankings appears a lot on those tags.
Just joking around— I do wish there was better nomenclature so that “premium” could be reserved for premium wines. I certainly have had more than a few decent wines under $20 (more so in Europe) but lots of uninspiring wines here …
Sure enough an unsolicited email offer popped up for bulk wine from the Columbia Valley (these are 2022 finished wines, pricing applicable on 2,000+ gallons): Reisling $6/gal, Chardonnay $6/gal, Cab Sauv $9/gal, and Syrah $9/gal !!!
