Here’s the deal. If producers are waiting for consumers to blink, they may just have no cash flow waiting for that to finally happen. A lot of wine was bought during the run up and cellars are full so many can just drink what they have and look to other regions to offer value. The average consumer (by this I mean wine geek who is not adverse to spending $100 on a bottle) has had an epiphany. No more point chasing or needing to have the latest critic darling “label”. Will there still be those that buy Screagle and DRC and Petrus, well yes, but that is a small population of wine drinkers. There are not enough rich people to support all the $100+ wineries period. Also most wealthy people are not that profligate these days either so why prices have not fallen to earth yet is surprising. Those that shift to the new paradigm will survive, I feel those that do not will have a tough road ahead especially those with large productions to sell. No one I know will pay even $139 for Insignia, so the large production with a price few will accept means the math is going to catch up with you. I know many retailers that will not even carry Insignia anymore. Cognitive dissonance seems to be in effect as far as wine pricing goes. Eventually you have to leave the “bubble” and deal in the real world.
Bumping this up…
$119 at BJ’s Wholesale Club in Fairfield/Bridgeport, Connecticut.
(That said, I agree with Daniel that the high-production super-premium wines need to drop below $100 before they will seem all that appealing.)
FWIW, BJ’s also had 2005 Robert Mondavi Reserve for $98.
I was a long time supporter of Insignia, going back to the '87 vintage. The wine used to be a steal and a real QPR, so I ate the price increases each year. That love’n QPR feeling started to fade once the wine was priced above $75. I paid $94 for the '01’s and $99 for the '02’s, which was the last vintage that I purchased. Even if the wine came back down to $99, I don’t know if I’d be a buyer again…
I know what you mean… I have a couple of 94’s & 95’s left. Maybe one 97 - probably the only bottle that I bought from 97, and nothing since.
So is this the new way to get rich for SWS and/or Phelps, the Two Buck Chuck model? ![[grin.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/5/53ba06e9b6e4b370ae7e3d7b3702ad1bda0a2d8e.gif "grin"){kind=small}
Honestly, the blow to their ego will have to be kept in check as they truly need to face the new reality of the economy of today rather than yesterday. Cash flow is king and if your prices are not low enough you just will not move product.
I always found it odd how producers were slow to accept this fact, but as one who worked in (both retail and) distribution sales, we always heard the same story about prices being too high, yet I cannot think of a recent time when those comments needed to be taken to heart more than now. Producers and distributors are going to be stuck holding inventory they cannot sell and that spells death to their business models. [I cannot think of a time when I would rather be in retail than now as the buyers’ market favors you now more than ever despite sales being down.]
Should producers and distributors hold their ground, what is going to bail them out, perhaps a good score? If it is from WS, that only goes so far due to credibility. If it is from WA, is it a Jay Miller score (sorry Jay), but that detracts as well for the same reason. Even if it is from RP, his influence is waning as we see 2007 Rhones, “the best vintage from any viticultural ever” being heavily discounted as well. Shouldn’t this be going through the roof like 2005 Bordeaux? It “should” but it is not. How can those selling not see the writing on the wall?
Everybody is discounting, and buyers are inundated with offers. Just being on a dozen or so lists, I get 8 emails every day - without exception. If you need to move product, the offer really needs to stand out head and shoulders above the rest to get attention and garner sales.
At 99 cents over cost, Phelps should be thanking SWS they can still move their portion of 15k+ cases worth of Insignia grape juice at that price because this is official: 
I remember when Gary V (Wine Library) BLEW out the insignia (I believe it was the '97, but I could be wrong) for something unheard of at the time, which might have been in the $80 range. I remember talking to wine buddies about it and saying it was GENIUS. So many stores had this wine sitting on the floor in CASES AND CASES, and had it priced from anywhere from $110 to $150 a bottle. In my mind, Gary was genius because he took what many stores were using as their profit wine that they could sell easily over time, and making these stores have to lower their price (which most were not willing to do back then) or sit it on the floor and take up their ability to use cash for something else.
I would love for Gary V to come on here and talk about that move, but I’m guessing that he wouldn’t, which of course is understandable IF I’m right. I believe I called that moved exactly for what it was. Gary’s genius was just warming up back then.
The idea that stores believe that people will line up for the Insignia for $100 or more is insane. Ain’t gonna happen.
This wine is easily the equal of those joker cult cabs that people still scramble to wait in line for at $250 a bottle and up. Just bought more…
You’re right (oh, that hurt!) it is not going to happen for Insignia IMO no matter what the reviews are, neither them nor Opus are the darlings that they once were. There are still some that will always love these wines and there is nothing wrong with that or the wines but when you can pick up Insignia for .99 over wholesale, what’s the point of retailers even carrying it, the competition is ridiculous and not worth taking up shelf space for it. I took a 6 pack because I have a good customer that wanted 2 bottles. The only way I reorder is if it is a special request.
I find it sad that so many of the wines that have been the backbone of NV have ended up with large enough productions that people think of them as the next floor stack and deal at Costco. It wasn’t that long ago that this wine and many other stalwarts of the Napa Valley were allocated and small enough production we had to beg for them. Sheesh, how times have changed.
Then there is the next wine that’s in first release, the new hot commodity and it sells for almost double than these known wines and the new ones are a dime a dozen anymore, many of them have great pedigree behind them, how many highly rated wines is the consumer going to chase that is over $150-$200 because they believe they are the next cult wine, are wines like Insignia and the wines that have been pushed aside for the next big mucky muck wine going to be or look like the bargains in the not so distant future ?
FWIW, I still have their 1997, 2002, and 2005 vintages and will probably buy the 2007. I also like Caymus SS and have already bought the 2007 for $98 which I thought was a great prize for a wine that is quite good.