Who Determines The Price of A Bottle of Wine

[Zinner]

The wineries do have suggested retail prices but mostly stores don't charge as much as that for the wine. Not unless it's rare or collectable.

A lot of factors enter into pricing and one thing that happens is that a store may get a better deal from the distributor if they buy a lot(or if they buy something the distributor needs to move), so the store that gets a deal can choose to pass it on to the customer. Your little store may not be overcharging if their prices are in the right range--they might not have buying power to get the best bargain themselves. But they shouldn't have prices extremely different than those at a bigger store.

But don't assume that the massive discount stores always have the best prices either. I noticed that our local Sam's Clubs(Walmart's membership discount stores) were charging more for some wines than our local wine stores. I asked one of the distributor guys why. He said it was because Sam's sets the prices in Arkansas and didn't have any idea what the wines were selling for here.

In my city, the wines stores compete a lot. Also we have some grocery stores with very nice wine departments. Typically, here, the grocery stores with wine consultants on staff have better prices than those that don't have anyone staffing the department.

Do you have any larger towns or cities that are close enough for you to make an occasional buying trip?

Most wine stores will give you a discount if you buy a case--12 bottles-- at one time. Some will give you a discount on six bottles. You don't have to buy all the same wine--you can buy a mixed case and pick and choose.