Sombody is rippin' somebody off!

[mrdutton]

I read the following in a post in another forum and started foaming at the mouth with indignation:

"Two under $10 that work with food or as quaffers:

Marietta California Old Vine Red Lot #26 or 27
Rosemount Grenache-Shiraz

cp"

Here I sit at my computer looking at a bottle of Marietta Old Vine Red Lot Number Twenty-six. The price sticker indicates: SALE: $16.99 and above that is the non-sale price of $20.00.

I wonder who is making all the money? I'll have to mention this to my wine shop guy and see what he says.

[Bucko]

Wine searcher list multiple places selling the wine for <$10.

Bucko

[Innkeeper]

Sorry Mike,

It's ole rip offo.

[mrdutton]

Pop's lists the Bin Twenty-seven at $10.76 a bottle. I'm tempted, but don't want to ship wine in this heat.

[Thomas]

The other possibility is that Marietta, or its distributor, had to dump the wine for lack of sales. If so, those who bought it earlier are stuck with the old price.

Then, there are the distributors who give massive discounts for volume sales, and the volume retailers who undercut the small shops. For instance, I bought a product that, at a certain minimum case order, I was told, I got the lowest price, which was about $6.00 a bottle wholesale (the highest wholesale price for it on a one-case order is $8.00 a bottle). The other day I saw the wine on a larger retailer's shelf at $7.00, which would be impossible had he paid what I paid for it. Imagine if I had bought one case of it--I would do better to buy it from the retailer instead of the wholesaler.

[Botafogo]

Foodie, that mark-up (buy for $6 sell for $7) is LARGER than many of the volume discounters here, one of who was happily quoted in a trade mag saying "I'm not in the wine business, I'm in the distribution business: I sell scores to people who require no further input and I work on my supplier's money as we turn everything in 30 days". So, romantic it makes you wanna cry, hunh? He claims an average margin of 12%.

Of course, if you walked in there with a five course Italian menu looking for wine pairings the ONLY answer would be "Falesco Vitiano, Parker 91 /$6.99" (and they would forget to mention that this might be the MOST un-italian wine made in Italy) which is also all the info about most wines in his catalogue, a real treasure trove of cultural and culinary insight......



[This message has been edited by Botafogo (edited 08-12-2001).]

[Thomas]

Roberto, I am learning that here in the BIG CITY it takes a long time and a lot of passionate talking to build a wine business based on service instead of discounts. Those volume sellers know one thing: Americans are mainly price-conscious. The large wine stores follow the plan of the successful mart brothers--Wal and K, which is where we shall find wine being sold in the future.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 08-11-2001).]

[cpurvis]

Sorry Mike, but I haven't seen the Marietta Old Vine Red at a price other than $9.99 locally. cp