@Timothy_B_a_l_l_a_r_d - 48 is lovely juice!
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Marc,
You will have to outbid Scott_B. We can simply meet in Carmel…join us there? Then you two can arm wrestle for the 329. 
Bring golf clubs
Cheers, Tim
I’m not buying dN (last dN purchase was in Dec 2023), and also not buying underground stuff. I’m mostly consuming my existing dN bottles and sporadically buying from local wine shops and a couple of producers I discovered during BD15, especially S-F.
I can’t find a rationale to continue buying from dN given 1) we don’t know who is running this business; 2) deals are way more obscure; 3) prices went up a lot. It’s just gambling now imo 
For those still buying from dN: what’s your rationale, please? I can’t find any compelling reason to buy from dN these days, unfortunately 
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I don’t think the rationale or value proposition has changed much, frankly. I wouldn’t compare now to the first year or so of DN, as those were unique circumstances and Cam was trying to get early traction for the model as well (we’ve also had ~20% cumulative inflation since then as a baseline). From the little I’ve tried and from reading others, anectodally seems the level of reviews of the wines are pretty similar to the last couple years of Cam DN. The one recent one I’ve tried, lot 447, I’d put up there with the best QPR I’ve had from any DN especially if you compare it to initial releases vs blowout offers.
My main reason for buying a lot less these days, in addition to lower volume of offers, is already having too much wine / DN! If I wanted to have more wine I’d still consider DN top of the pile for daily drinker QPRs. Another reason is wondering if the 2023 vintage is going to dorp a ton of high quality stuff into the market and thus lead to another round of great DN offers.
Relatedly, it’s funny how much these threads used to be dominated by customer service issues, but now that they seem to have really addressed that for the better it doesn’t get mentioned anymore when comparing DN now to before
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I was much less in the “in Cam we trust” camp, so his departure impacted me less than some others. I think the “it’s more vague and more expensive” criticism is fair for some of the releases, but 460, for example, has plenty of hints for a very strong source guess and it’s a high-dollar bottle at a solid discount.
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Yep, I just heard on CNBC today that everything we buy is up 30% since 2019, pandemic times.
In my head, Whenever I hear “inflation”, I substitute “currency debasement”.
Lotsa money printing, when production was largely shutdown…Doh!
dN still tastes good to me. #105 tonight.
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There’s a more likely culprit. Check corporate profits and ceo compensation during this supply/demand “crisis”.
I distinctly Remember in 1932, a $20 gold piece, took one $20 Bill to acquire. Perfect!!
Currently one would need over 115 $20 Bills.
By my simple arithmetic, that is a USD depreciation of over 99%, so far. Apparently, The money creators are working on the reducing that last 1% of purchasing power.
In my head, when I hear “price inflation”, I substitute “currency debasement". It is an Intentional Misdirection for the masses……
Who will cover the asses of the masses?
Haines Brand Underwear 
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I have no idea what you are talking about, but that’s okay. Party on!
OG N.105 2018 Rocks District Cabernet Sauvignon
PnP, good to go now. Mild acid, good depth. One Yum
with “Shake and Bake” Pork Chops
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I’ve cut way back on dN purchases for the reasons you give, not good enough QPR, and lack of space. However, I did buy a case of 468 today because of a number of positive factors (that you can read about if you want on De Negoce offer (Part 2)). Going forward, I’m going to be very selective about what I buy on dN. The wines would have to have an MSRP of at least $60 discounted by at least 75%. I don’t want any $40 wines selling on dN for $18.
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Wine and arm-wrestling sound like and interesting combo…
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And just to be clear @Sc0tt_B is Sly Stalone and I’m that other guy.
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OG N.28 2018 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
This strong, dark, beautiful 2018 wine is ready now without any decanting.
Rich and moderately tannic, smooth acidity. The awesome complexity builds with air.
A Deelightful double yum now.
with Tri-tip
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Larry,
Norm summed up my thoughts pretty well. If you can get known wines from the source for around the same discount as dN, then it’s an easy decision for me. There are many great wine deals out there from Underground Cellars, to Costco clearance, to Treasury Friends and family sales where I got 60-80% off wines like BD Latour, Etude Cab, Schweiger Cab, Sequoia Grove cabernet, Andrew Januik Stone Cairn, etc.
My last dN purchase was 401 and I don’t have the same level of trust with the new management. I have historically focused on the magic words from Cam, “same exact blend as the producers blend”, so I knew we were getting comparable juice. These would be the only offers I would consider from dN now.
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There’s another concern for me regarding these wine futures. We live in the wine country and used to go barrel tasting in the spring. The wineries would serve you wine samples literally straight from the barrel. If you liked the wine you could buy a future of that wine, paying up front, getting 50% off by buying a case and picking up the bottled wine months later. I bought a couple of times and noticed that the wine dramatically worsened after just a few months and never got any better. After that, I never bought any more. I think you guys are right to trust Cam’s judgement more than the current buyer as he seems to have a track record of correctly picking which wines will turn out well in the long term.
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after a bit of air 43 Napa cab which I bought in the early days drinking very well…happy camper 92
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@larry_schaffer, guilty as charged. Since the UC sale was opened to the public at the end of January, I’ve only bought dN wine once and have been LOADING UP on UC wine, and getting all of my friends too. I’ve been a discount wine shopper since 2020 and this UC sale has presented the best buying opportunity that I have EVER seen. Naturally at first we were all skeptical, but now that the wine is being safely delivered and getting great reviews, it pushes us to buy even more.
I’ve purchased 30+ cases (I’ll take the real number with me to my grave) from the UC sale for me and a big group of friends. Needless to say, I won’t need to buy any more wine for a long time (in theory ).
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We have really enjoyed the 43 as well. Very nice wine.
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Tonight, n.70D. I had been scared to break into my case of the n.70s (purchased in one of the sales for $10/bottle) based on reviews as well as the comment that they need to be prepped 24 hours in advance. But tonight I needed a red on the lighter side to pair with spaghetti with pesto, so I decided to open n.70D. It was very tasty – good pinot characteristics but also light on its feet which worked with the pesto. Hubby doesn’t like wine much but after he had a sip of mine he said I could “boss” him into having a glass. Mhm, sure! So, we polished off the bottle together, and it was a lovely evening.
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