At what price point does a wine......

....cease to be a wine and become a commodity?

The Petrus for 2 boxes of ziti thread made me wonder a bit.
We must all be shell shocked at some of todays prices. prices that make the 2001 Shafer I picked up last week for $49 seem like a great deal (even though the disorder boys seemed freaky about the mere mention of 50 dollar bottles).

The norm these days is so abnorm for yesterdays standards. Sure there will always be the $14 Great Deal, and hell if I don't a case and a half of a fantastic drinking Cab from Cali that any readers of my blog has already heard me rave about that cost $10.63, but where do we draw either of the lines, the realistic or the absurd?

For me, once it goes above $135-$150 its real difficult to justify, even special occaision wines. My Everyday drinkers are up to about $25-$30 these days. In 1985 my everdays were about $9-$11
You?

My buying has most definitely moved from "commodity wines". I will be purchasing nothing via mailer this year over $100 a bottle...and even then it will be a very thought out process. I think the recent spike...think 2-3 years in the cult wannabees...in prices has caused me a moment of pause. I would much rather drink a case of that '04 Kuleto for $38 a bottle for what a bottle of Harlan will be released at now. Additionally, is the pump and dump market even out there anymore. Just look at all the Ovid and Seven Stones offered.

There are always a few nice CA wines out there for good prices, and even more German and French wines that are high quality and under $30, many even under $20. I've picked up a bunch of those in the last couple months - early drinking French wines under or around $20 - some from Michael Alberty, some from Costco (just for you, killer). Good stuff, particularly if you drink your wine with food, as the CA stuff is really hit and miss with that.

I look for reputable producers sourcing from well farmed vineyards, with consistent winemaking, and making good wines in tougher vintages. I usually top out around $130 on a wine list...no need to spend more if you know what you're looking for. About $50 retail, then the rest is just supply and demand driven. I don't give a crap about ratings. They've never affected my wine purchasing habits.

T-Bone, do you even maintain a cellar? Or do you have a couple dozen bottles under the sink?

Bill Tex Landreth wrote:T-Bone, do you even maintain a cellar? Or do you have a couple dozen bottles under the sink?

I have a 50 bottle Vinotemp at my house, and the weather here is pretty manageable. Everything else, I keep in styro, and have not had a problem here in Los Alamos. I don't buy to hold (except for Dehlinger), I buy to drink within the next 6 months.

Somehow my everyday drinkers have become $30 to $40 range. I find it hard to justify anything over $100 and just won't do it anymore.

Joe Hauck wrote:Somehow my everyday drinkers have become $30 to $40 range. I find it hard to justify anything over $100 and just won't do it anymore.

Times, they are a'changin'. Everybody says that prices CAN'T go down, and that the recession and greatly decreased consumer spending won't affect pricing, but guess what - it DOES!

Wineries will have to lower prices to sell at all, or they simply won't - it's that simple. I read an article recently that had a feature on Rock and Republic - making of some of those $300+ jeans every woman has to buy, including my wife. They have a new line coming out called Recession Series or something - supposed to be just above $100, if I recall.

You can lower prices and survive, or keep them as they are and fail. Pricing was fueled by non-stop consumer demand, across all industries. Those making and selling those products simply didn't see where they could make changes to lower prices, as it all worked out - the cost, the profit, etc. Guess what? They are figuring out how to do it now! 'Oh yeah, I guess we COULD do this, and that would drive the price down', etc. They didn't see it before because they didn't have to. It's time.

I have been getting emails left and right for people offering juice at 20 to 40% off release. Granted these aren't the top tier cults, but I am not a buy of Harlan at $400.

I was always one to jump on the big names and hence the big $...I am changing that now - its just way too expensive and there are GREAT wines under $100! My daily drinkers however have gone up in price for some reason. I am now popping wines in the $30 to $40 range with dinner. Could be that that's what I have on hand, once they run out, who knows. I am a HUGE fan of good cheap wine now!

mike pobega wrote:....cease to be a wine and become a commodity?

The Petrus for 2 boxes of ziti thread made me wonder a bit.
We must all be shell shocked at some of todays prices. prices that make the 2001 Shafer I picked up last week for $49 seem like a great deal (even though the disorder boys seemed freaky about the mere mention of 50 dollar bottles).

The norm these days is so abnorm for yesterdays standards. Sure there will always be the $14 Great Deal, and hell if I don't a case and a half of a fantastic drinking Cab from Cali that any readers of my blog has already heard me rave about that cost $10.63, but where do we draw either of the lines, the realistic or the absurd?

For me, once it goes above $135-$150 its real difficult to justify, even special occaision wines. My Everyday drinkers are up to about $25-$30 these days. In 1985 my everdays were about $9-$11
You?

These days (unless it has bubbles in it) $50. Home buying suckssssssssssssss.

I'm doing it soon....Looking at a house in my parents area and one in Needham, Mass

Must be a millionaire - anything inside 128 or barely beyond was a shithole for 300k.

For a poor pierogie-maker, inside 495 was the best we could do, without killing the family cat.

I'm actually looking for a quasi-shithole to live in while I redo it. I want a nice piece of land, in a nice area and will work on the house as I go (since I am single now I can easily live it in while I rehab it)

It may not necessarily be a "price point", but a percentage. You could have bought 04 Lafite for $160, but now it's over $400. Several 05s did the same things, like L'eglise Clinet and Troplong Mondot. They were relative bargains vs. numerous other wines, like Petrus, LMHB, Mouton, Lafite, et al., but have completely spiraled out of control since. Burgundy, same thing.

Tough to justify drinking wine that is over $200, but if it's worth $2,000, even though I only spent $200....


Now that there number of buyers in the market place is shrinking, let's hope pricing returns to normal!