quote:

Originally posted by TERPS:
LOL I guess you feel we should all have the same tastes and opinions on everything...You would probably fit in very well in the middle east.

Hey now, hey now. Taking a pot shot at Opus One and oppressive theocracies are maybe, not quite, the same thing.

In any case, it would depend on how you define a correction, but for the most part, we are seeing haphazard deals and stagnant pricing. One exception might be high volume high-end wines like Opus One and Silver Oak (see clicky), but also including Insignia and Caymus SS, which have long relied upon restaurants to take a lot of their inventory.

Frankly, the larger effects I've seen is on high quality niche, but not cult, producers making what the general public considers to be high end, but what wine people tend to describe as QPR but not daily drinkers (say $25-40). I.e., I feel like I get a discounted offer a month from Siduri/Novy, whose prices weren't high to begin with.

quote:

Originally posted by TERPS:
Recent purchases for me have been 05 Opus at 124.99 05 Insignia at 120.00 07 Merry Edwards Pinot Russian River at 42.99 07 ME Sonoma at 36.99...2006 Onellaia at 125.00...I guess it all depends where you are shopping but I have seen great deals out there....And all the cult wines can be had for less then mailing list prices.

But Terps, a majority of the time retailers often have wines less expensive than the mailer?

I am talking about wine that you dont see at Retail shops, Harlan, Sloan, Colgin etc. If you do see them at retail they are usually 2 to 3 times more then the mailer.

Quote from Globe and mail article to-day!

Many wineries are seeing unprecedented sales declines for their upper-end labels. Sales of wines priced $20 (U.S.) or higher have fallen by as much as 13 per cent this year in the United States after growing at double-digit levels for years, according to Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, Calif.

"I've never seen a sales decline like this. What we are dealing with is a worldwide economic issue," said Rob McMillan, who heads the bank's wine industry division.

"People who were buying $20 to $25 wine are now buying $15 to $18 bottles. People who were buying $15 to $18 bottles are now buying $12 to $15," said Tom Green of 20 Bees Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. "Some of the $15-price-range products have slowed in sales but the $10 to $12 products have increased dramatically."

That shift has hit the bottom lines of some of the industry's biggest companies.

Australian beverage giant Foster's Group Ltd. said the profit in its wine division fell by 50 per cent this year and the company is now considering getting out of wine altogether. Victor, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands Inc., the world's largest wine maker, reported a 15-per-cent drop in sales for the first quarter ended May 31 and an 85-per-cent cut in profit. The company has trimmed 400 jobs this year, or about 5 per cent of its work force, and it is concentrating on making lower-priced wines.

TBird...What one offers something for is not the selling Price...The selling price is what one pays for it. Colgin can be had at below mailing list prices these days. You need to buy from winecommune and other places if you want to get the correction prices.

If you are talking about moderately to expensive prices for Cali wines, then you have a point. Some retailers are understanding as are wineries. Some are still clueless even in these times.

quote:

Originally posted by TERPS:
LOL I guess you feel we should all have the same tastes and opinions on everything...You would probably fit in very well in the middle east.

My point exactly. Buying Opus at what it costs, and then making that stretch, you are clearly brain dead.

For the wines that I buy prices have remained steady, but there has certainly not been any great "correction".

I don't really buy Cali Cabs, so my observation is not exactly on topic, but this summer I saw some massive sales on wines I cellar, and I picked up a few that came down into my price range. I thought those offers had dried up but I am now getting daily emails about interesting sales.