Yes, it will absolutely be available at retail.
I wasn’t suggesting that it would not be available at retail. But given the combination of a strong base vintage and the certainty of knowing what is in the bottle, I’m sure demand will be strong and those with the most clout will get the largest allocations. And at least down here, that’s usually the restaurants.
whom
hello, defendant
You should get a summer associate to compile a list of everyone that wants bottles on this thread. Pro bono hours
When they’re back from cleaning off my deck
Wait long enough and it’ll be just as widely available as 163eme is now. Let the hype die down. There is certainly no shortage of the bottles like others have mentioned.
Certainly wasn’t allocated in London.
£585/6 in England today, about $120/b, but not delivered.
Russell,
The US now does a “kind of allocation” on certain LVMH releases. In instances where demand is expected to be higher than supply they will release the wine in multiple waves over the course of a year (or more for vintage wines) with limits on what someone can get at one time. It isn’t an absolute limit on bottles, but rather a way of rolling it out a bit more slowly and hopefully spreading the wine around a bit more than one big release would. I have no idea if any other countries have a similar activity.
I came up a bit short too. Best pricing I could get for cost was $139/bottle on two 6 packs (12 bottles)
Brad, Krug will sometimes parcel the Vintage wines with the non vintage, but that’s about it as far as I know.
Tom is pretty spot-on here. Things can vary from state-to-state, but even in quantity discount states, the best price is still dictated, and with a wine in high demand, there’s a point at which it makes no sense for an importer to dip below a certain cost, particularly as part of the long-term brand strategy. So there’s only so much margin for a retailer to play with.
If you function in a one-price-post state - chances are you’re where some of that lost margin gets recouped.
Russell,
They do that here in the US too; I saw it the most with the 96 vintage. I have to imagine that each import/sales arm will handle things as they see appropriate for the market they serve. In the past, I have only seen the staggered release/waves used in the US on Krug’s vintage wine so I can’t say whether or not they will do it with the 164th edition Grande Cuvee. From what I have seen, releasing in waves has multiple effects: it prevents someone from attempting to trying to buy up and control the market, allows for price adjustments based on how the market reacts to the wine, and can create a bit of an aura about the wine as it can be more difficult to get on initial release.
Obviously, this is much easier to do with a wine like the vintage where production is lower and you have a larger release window. With the Grande Cuvee changing releases each year and having a much higher production, I don’t know how this would work or if LVMH would even consider it.
Well, I for one am extremely disappointed. I wanted something for nothing (and the chicks for free), and Todd failed to deliver.
Neal,
Looks like we are all in Dire Straits over this situation. I think we should force Todd to supply Krug at $120 a bottle to all that asked with an option to up their initial request.
And as you have said, you are not even particularly fond of Krug.
Oh, I like the MV wine. I just think it is overhyped and overpriced. I get as much pleasure from any number of wines for which I pay significantly less.
Don’t agree that it’s overpriced and over hyped. In fact, I think it is the best qpr of all of the wines in the Krug portfolio.
While many times the Grande Cuvee doesn’t drink great upon release, years of cellaring is always a huge benefit to the wine.
Last night I had a bottle that was disgorged in '05 and it is just entering a great place with at least 20 more years of evolution.
Have you had a bottle with some age on it?
i’ll go even further and say that magnums of GC represent perhaps the best value in the wine world. and they do indeed age insanely well.