Lol. First time? Shame on them. Not sure what happens when you reach a dozen!
I find lost of interesting wines often at exceptional prices from Garagiste but I don’t buy mysteries. Agree on better success on whites than reds but I have discovered a lot of really nice wines from them (again not mystery wines). They have totally killed it with cheap Muscadette and Rose over the years, IMO. Professional reviews and CT notes help a lot but some are just not covered. The Eric Forest Chardonnay he offered the other day tends to be really good based on my previous experience but it seems like no one else in the US imports it.
Sean
Love Eric Forest. For those in the DC area, my old local wine shop, Arrowine in Arlington, works with an importer who brings in almost his entire line-up . They even offered his 24 Carat last year. Sitting on those 
. Rimmerman’s price on the Roche was pretty sharp. I snipe occasional known quantities like this from him, nothing else.
Edited once because of clumsy fingers and early submit
Last Bottle and WTSO are where there are actual deals…most of the time. But you have to sift through those carefully. Did miss the deal on Salmon Champagne yesterday on Last Bottle. Rats!
I think it is hard to generalize. Has anyone here seen John sell mystery wines at a price that is much higher than then what you can find from other retailers?
I don’t buy many of his mystery wines but over the last 6 months I have bought 3. The Cristom was misrepresented but John still sold it at a fair price. The Angela Estate Pinot was a great deal at $14. Also the Chaleur Estate Blanc was a screaming good deal at < $20.
I’ve purchased a number of their Mystery offers. Mostly just 1 or 2 bottles, and partly because I am just interested to see which wineries/distributors are turning to him to move pallets of wine for a discount. Overall, I’ve been pleased at the value I’ve received for the mystery wines I’ve purchased at the prices I’ve paid. They’ve for the most part been wines I’ve enjoyed, and the prices are almost always below what I could find at retail here in PacNW. I would guess that, on average, they are offered at 20-30% below “normal retail” around here. No where near the value hype that “J Peterman” writes about, but a good deal nonetheless.
I’ve found a few rules of thumb that help cut thru the thick layer of the flowery bullshit that Rimmerman writes:
- In reading the offer e-mails, simply completely disregard anything that can’t be objectively verified. If the offer says it’s a 2018 Cotes du Rhone from producer X that he’s offering at $15, that’s probably true. Anything that’s in any way subjective, or not easily verified, just discard it – all of it. The “discount price hype”, the rambling stories about tooling around the back roads of France, the “one-man band winemaker living in a hut”, the BIO/organic blather, etc. Delete it mentally as you read it. It’s all just about getting you to think about something other than the wine he’s actually offering.
- That is especially true for Mystery wines. If he says “… it’s not 2015, 2016, 2018, or 2019 vintage …”, don’t then make the assumption it’s 2017 vintage. Just know it’s not one of the vintages listed. That’s all. Don’t try to fill in the lines and infer information not stated. That’s what he’s trying to get you to do – and he knows you’ll likely fill it in with the most positive interpretation (which it generally isn’t).
- Most importantly – the quality of the wine, and the related value at his offer price, is almost always inversely proportional to the length of the offer. When he knows he’s selling “steak” (good wine at good price), he just lets the steak sell itself. For example, his Huet offers (which are a decent amount below Huet retail here) are short and sweet. On the other end of the spectrum, he’ll sell “sizzle” when he’s not sure he has steak. Those are his multiple page wandering blathers that spend most of the verbage talking about everything but the wine itself. Major red flag.
That all being said, the wines he offers are generally good value (in my experience). Pretty much always at prices below other retail here in Seattle area. And he brings in a lot of stuff that otherwise never hits the market here. I’m local to his warehouse, so I can just run by and pick up easily. I wouldn’t bother with buying from him if I had to deal with ship costs and delays (as that eats into a lot of the value). And, yes, overall he does better with picking whites (and rose) than reds.
Just my $0.02. YMMV.
Michael
Great post, and all of it is broadly applicable well beyond Rimmerspeak and wine. Image all the people… practicing healthy skepticism… when faced with hype and blabber…
Aside, re: “his Huet offers …are short and sweet”. Not always, some of them are semi-sweet 
The Billecart-Salmon “Cuvee Louis” currently offered is a deal at $129. As always, and not just with Garagiste, you have to ask yourself if that is a wine you really want.
I had to move about 20 cases of wine to make room for a home repair project, and those were all overflow from my cellar, so I’m thinking what I really need is less wine, not more.
Anyone have a link for the Cuvee Louis?
The link from the e-mail seems to be unique to my account.
You can try this-
For any question or inquiry, please contact: friends@garagistewine.com or call us anytime at (888) 264-0053
You can share the link in your email. It seems like it’s from your account only because you are logged into it. It will work for anyone. I unsubscribed long ago and don’t want to resub, but I can buy from links links if someone shares. 
https://app.garagiste.com/requests/15875
As of a minute ago it was still available.
works thank you!
If anyone is considering today’s Chianti mystery offer, I’ll save you the suspense. The previous wine/vintage that Mr Barnum refers to in his e-mail offer was the 2016 Fattoria di Basciano Chianti Rùfina.
https://www.cellartracker.com/classic/wine.asp?iWine=3142073
There are a decent number of CT notes on that wine – assuming they are legit, and not shill notes, seems like pretty solid wine for less than a sawbuck per. Of course, that assumes the 2018 is same quality as the 2016. As always, YMMV.
Michael
Mine is one of the notes - I bought 3 bottles last time. It was a great value. I would rebuy if I wasn’t already out of space.
Anyone know what these two Brunello from Memorial Day are?
Garagiste - #3 Brunello di Montalcino Mystery
Garagiste - #2 Brunello di Montalcino Mystery
Basciano has always been a good value. I have no idea about 2018 vs 2016 but I have zero concern that Basciano will be a good drink at $9.
I just received the #3 today. It’s a 2015 Banfi Poggio alle Mura
Thanks