Tweet from the front lines....Peter Michael stacked up and not moving...

WINE TALK
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Luxury wine brands hurting? tons of this on shelf at Bristol Farms." onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - Luxury wine brands hurting? tons of this on shelf at Bristol Farms.

Via @Domaine547

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I wouldn’t exactly call 6 bottles “stacked”

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Poster is ITB and very market savvy, I’m sure she saw more but just did a close up of the labels.

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what if… they just got this shipment in? or what if they had 2 cases and now all they have are only 6 bottles left? Quite the assumption from a picture with no context.

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Admittedly, I don’t shop at Bristol Farms, but I am curious…if luxury brands are selling well, does the store leave the shelves empty? Otherwise, I’m not sure what having stock on the shelves really says.

At Ralph’s, for instance, I understand Coke is the best-selling brand of cola, but I always see plenty on the shelves. [swoon.gif]

Cheers!

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As I said, the original poster is ITB, very market savvy, and probably took a closeup of the 6 bottles so you could see what it was. I don’t think she would use “stacked up” for just those. But, is PM chardonnay something you normally see on grocery store shelves anyway? That surprised me more than anything…

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Frank, there are unlimited supplies of Coke, PM Chard not so much (normally)…if you search for that wine on WS, more than half of the bottles are on WineBid and most others are at carriage trade wine shops. The fact that Bristol Farms even was offered any is a big tell.

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I was just having a little fun. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if luxury wine sales were way down at many supermarkets.

The one point, though, is that those shelves are probably reserved for luxury brands. So if PM chard sells out, it will be replaced with another similarly priced wine. Who knows if what they stocked earlier sold out so now the shelves are full of PM chardonnay?

So I agree with the general conclusion, just don’t see a whole lot of connection to the photo/blog. [whistle.gif]

Cheers!

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We just received our allocation 2 weeks ago, as well, and put it on the shelf.

I guess it is stacked up and not moving…unlike Lambrusco, which is on fire, like never before. neener

I asked this person for a definition of “tons”

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you just aren’t in the “know” Dan :stuck_out_tongue: neener

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can’t speak for other stores, but the store that I work at (binny’s) doesn’t get 2 cases per store of Peter Michael for any of their wines. At most our store will get 6 bottles of the chards. When we got them in, they lasted a decent while for Chard’s of their caliber when 18 months ago they didn’t last 10 days, js

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@Domaine547 “tons=full case each of two Peter Michael Chards, priced at $90/btl. Before this year broker never would have placed in market.”

And that is just what was on display…in a grocery store. It’s a new world out there.

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Bristol Farms in San Diego gets some really amazing wine. Peter Michael galore there, first growths, even DRC. They have a pretty good high end wine department. Not that cheap but they have plenty of these wines.

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So this person is saying that this store, that Charlie says gets DRC, etc. got 2 cases o Peter Michael Chard.

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I don’t think it’s the same Bristol Farms.
edit: During their cab sale last year, my friend picked up 3 bottles of the Peter Michael Les Pavots. They have a lot of great wine but I wonder if the supermarket… even as high end as Bristol Farms is the place people routinely hunt for high end wine?

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Be a buyer when the price goes under $30!

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Yeah, I think the point is that more quantity of mailing list oriented wines are finding their way into more retail outlets than ever. I have never seen PM retail, but when I have seen the odd Kistler or Aubert they have been priced well above list prices. I think $90 is above the Carrierre, below some of the other cuvees.

I saw several mailer oriented wines at Beltramos at list prices the weekend before Thanksgiving, more than the usual 2-3, including Peay, Big Basin, August West, Carlisle (an SVD this time, the Papera), and Outpost. Suits me. I dropped Outpost and August West from mailer rotation but I’m happy to try a bottle or two each year. The 2007 Outpost Zin, when you hit its sweet spot, is just marvelous, btw. In 2012 it will be divine. The Big Basin I spied was the 2005 Rattlesnake, which I consider a good find, still not cheap, but great material just getting better in the bottle.

Anyway, it stands to reason that some mailers are not selling through like they used to, and in the long run that is good for prices, although perhaps bad in terms of having a great many choices at a very high quality level. I wonder how much inventory the wineries themselves are holding, PM in particular. Since it was easy to get on their list with healthy allocations right off the bat several years before the recession, I bet they are swimming in unsold wine, terrified to dump it cheaper and alienate the customer base that paid old, full prices.

I also wonder if some wineries were trying to keep their brand at a ~$50 market price point by slowly selling into retail, and if so, if it might make more sense in the future to sell to their own lists at $40+ instead of to the retailers for less than that.

I also wonder if wineries will be more selective with blending luxury and pricy SVD cuvees as they hold down production, thereby raising the median quality of both the entry level and higher end bottlings.

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No, this person (who has a VERY nice shop here in town called Domaine LA) is noting that it is STILL there after repeated visits. That would not have been the case even a year ago.

http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/wine/domaine-la-now-open-melrose/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Fair enough, I guess. But the wines that Scott mentions have all been available retail, at least in my neck of the woods.

I realize that more high end wines are available via the retail channel than previously, but that goes without saying, in a bad economy.

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One report of one store having a fair end high Chard “stacked up” isn’t exactly the death knoll of the luxury brands. We all confuse our anecdotes with real evidence. I’m sure luxury brands are hurting, but there are better pieces of evidence out there.

I will say (anecdotally) that Roberto’s linked piece re Domaine LA confirms my personal prejudices re LA being form over substance, article talks more about design that wine. :slight_smile:

And Posner, I wish you would jump on the Lambrusco bandwagon, I actually like the better ones more than PM (which I only drink when I have the ones you foisted off on customers!).