First, packaging costs are less for Pinot and Syrah because bottles cost $1, corks .75, etc. Winemakers for Pinot generally make way less per consult, typically $30-50K. And the fact is that many Pinot and Syrah makers simply can’t afford to hire anyone. They made and sell the wines themselves, take a small salary (if any) and then keep costs in line that way. So their costs are much, much lower. They make may their wines for $25-30 per and still have a nice margin… IF… they can sell direct. Custom crush in Sonoma is $36-48 per case vs. $48-100 in Napa. The costs are lower for almost everything.
The hard part is that there are far less people who buy Pinot and Syrah direct than Napa Cab. And the amount of people willing to buy Syrah or Pinot, even a 97-point Syrah or Pinot, at $100… is very, very low. At 97-points, Napa Cab often sells out at $175+. They are very different clientele. And there are simply far more who want Cab.
Pinot producers, especially, get into the biz BECAUSE they want to make their own wine. Think about how many high-end Cabs are made by the owner vs. Pinot Noir. Very few. Among Pinot (and many Syrah) makers, they often do it all, or maybe have one helper, at least until 1,000 cases.
All this is true, especially the bolded part.
I realize I’m 5 years late to the video - but very interesting nonetheless.
Roy - how have numbers changed (presumably increased) over the last 5 years? My understanding is that many Beckstoffer grapes are over double your charted price per ton.