I went in for a small amount. Great Vintage/Cabral Still involved/Great Wines/Beautiful faclity and rockin Pick up party.
It will be interesting to see how the transition goes as Cabral is now gone(I believe 2013 was his last vintage?). They have great Vineyard sources and Growers so the transition should be easier than most. But the Prices are really about as high as I will probably go with them.
Probably continue to buy some Appelation wines in the future as long as the prices don’t go much higher.
I’m cutting out the appellation wines and dropping down to just 1-2 bottles each of the SVDs that I’ve been buying for years: Allen, Ferrington, Peay, Rochioli, and the Estate. I also bought a bottle of the Burt Williams, which I liked a lot last year. This is the last year for Peay. I may buy some Sonoma Coast again in the Spring, but overall, I think I’ll probably be down to around 10 bottles from W-S per year.
I used to average about 2 cases a year from W-S. I still think they are great wines, it’s just that I can’t possibly buy as widely across their offering as I used to given how many wines they make, how much of their wine I already have in my cellar, and how relatively expensive they are. I actually think there is something subconsciously off-putting about releasing 35 different wines each year, making it impossible for a single collector to “go deep” without being buried. I’ve been buying for 5 years, and there are still some SVDs that I’ve never tasted.
I think I’m with you Jay. I’ve never been able to buy everything W-S offers and prices keep climbing. I’m glad I got to speak with Bob Cabral at the Charlotte Wine and Food Weekend in April before his moving on to other ventures (and chat about some non-wine topics such as his daughter’s accomplishments.) But that said, I’ve been on the W-S mailing list and buying from them since the 2006 vintage (currently have 48 bottles on hand) and I didn’t receive an e-mail about the current release. Maybe I need to check on that.
Saw that, and got it. I tend to agree with Tanzer, and Peay is one of the lower priced single vineyard Pinots. Shame to see it go, but I guess you can’t blame Peay if they’re keeping their own fruit.
I like the idea of buying Cabral’s swan song, but I still find it easier to get older vintages at auction for the same price as new. So many wonderfully made pinots out there for less, it just doesn’t make sense to me to invest anymore, so offered my allocation to a buddy with more disposable income than me.
I have been buying pretty steadily since I think the 92 vintage, passing only on the spring regional bottlings to save my wad for the single vineyard releases in the fall. And yet this year I was offered, in the first tier prior to the general offering went out, mainly onesies and twosies, except for 5 Eastside neighbors and 3 Foss. Too many small quantities of too many different wines. Just wears one out. Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens with the transition to a new winemaker
I really don’t understand their allocation strategy. They offer one or maybe two of the really good SVD’s, so you have to buy an incredibly broad array of their stuff and if you find one you really love, then you have to settle for one bottle a year? Despite my taking a case per release and always my maximum allotment of two Morning Dew’s each offering, they cut me off the Dew this year. Not sure I have the patience for them any more. I know once I drink some this weekend, the irritation will be long gone, but they should really consider trying to see things from the consumer’s perspective one in a while.
I love the wines, they probably represent my first love for a single producer. They aren’t cheap for sure, but I think they have a good handle such that you kinda sorta get what you pay for within their portfolio.
I also understand the exhaustion that comes from so many wines and so little allocation of each, but what else do you want them to do if demand is outpacing supply? Isn’t this the epitome of how a winery should react, constantly looking for new vineyard sources that meet their high quality standards? They clearly cannot make the Allen vineyard any larger, so they have to go elsewhere. I’m in for Morning Dew, Ferrington, and Weir. Have yet to try Morning Dew, but I bought last year as well.
