https://bbc.com/worklife/article/20231121-how-us-wine-became-so-expensive
Interesting read on wine in the US
Shocking thing was the amount of money wholesalers make
.
$100 for a bottle of wine is absurd. There’s plenty of good wines for under $30.
Highest I have paid is $50 and while drinking it all I could think was it was a waste of money.
Do some bourbon comparison.
Its absurd the increase in the past 2 years.
So don’t buy wine. Plenty of cheap drink options out there. Last I checked water was dirt cheap and pairs with all foods.
https://bbc.com/worklife/article/20231121-how-us-wine-became-so-expensive
Interesting read on wine in the US
Shocking thing was the amount of money wholesalers make
Lots of localities have anti free trade laws on the books that require companies distribute certain ways that drive prices up.
I am in NC and they’re incrementally fighting and changing it to help local brewers for beer at least.
We are one of those idiot old school state run liquor store places.
I had a chance to speak with a Master Sommelier a few years ago. Two things I remember from the conversation:
-
Any bottle of wine that costs more than $40 is for show.
-
The best wine is the wine that someone else bought for you.
$100 for a bottle of wine is absurd. There’s plenty of good wines for under $30.
Highest I have paid is $50 and while drinking it all I could think was it was a waste of money.
You mix rot gut gin into your dreg white wine to make it drinkable
Do some bourbon comparison.
Its absurd the increase in the past 2 years.
What surprised me was the wholesalers dwarfed the vineyards and distilleries
So don’t buy wine. Plenty of cheap drink options out there. Last I checked water was dirt cheap and pairs with all foods.
I’ll get right on that
https://bbc.com/worklife/article/20231121-how-us-wine-became-so-expensive
Interesting read on wine in the US
Shocking thing was the amount of money wholesalers make
Lots of localities have anti free trade laws on the books that require companies distribute certain ways that drive prices up.
I am in NC and they’re incrementally fighting and changing it to help local brewers for beer at least.
We are one of those idiot old school state run liquor store places.
It starts with federal laws
I had a chance to speak with a Master Sommelier a few years ago. Two things I remember from the conversation:
-
Any bottle of wine that costs more than $40 is for show.
-
The best wine is the wine that someone else bought for you.
Best wine I’ve had was like two euro in rural France
Do some bourbon comparison.
Its absurd the increase in the past 2 years.
True.
Thankfully, I bought a lot of wine and a lot of bourbon before the big price increases. Between what I have at my house, and in my office, I have enough to stock my own liquor store.
$100 for a bottle of wine is absurd. There’s plenty of good wines for under $30.
Highest I have paid is $50 and while drinking it all I could think was it was a waste of money.
You mix rot gut gin into your dreg white wine to make it drinkable
Incorrect. I mix in the gun because I like the combination of the two. I drink plenty of wine sans gin.
Ontario has decent wine.
Do some bourbon comparison.
Its absurd the increase in the past 2 years.
What surprised me was the wholesalers dwarfed the vineyards and distilleries
Well - They don’t.
2 of the bigger players who are public entities so the information is available.
Distributer - Constellation brands - Revenue of $9.4 billion and GP of $4.7. (50%)
Distiller - Diageo - Revenue of $17.1 billion and GP of $10. (58%)
However - the Distributer will have more total sales (50%) than the distiller and then the retailer will have more sales than the distributor (around 20% - but hard to find data on public company liquor retailers) as every-one makes a margin.
And don’t forget - the government gets their share as well. As do the Angels (from the distillers)
Distillers sells to distributor at a profit. Distributor sells to retailer at a profit, Retailer sells to us at a profit…
I probably shouldn’t admit this…
I bought several bottles from a locally owned wined shop that features organic wines. I paid between $40 and $75 for several bottles.
My girlfriend opened a bottle a few nights ago. I didn’t know which one.
“Wow! This is great! Which one did you open?”
“The one from Trader Joe’s.”
About $8 a bottle.
2022 Sauvignon Blanc, “Sauvignon Republic” from Marlborough New Zealand
replying to last.
As far as local wine goes, there are a number of reasons. Some of it is prestige or trying to show prestige. Some of it is labor intensity of the product. Most of it is Federal and Provincial regulation. If I go to a winery and buy it directly from them, they are not allowed to charge any less than the Provincially set price for that wine. The liquor store has a lot more layers of intermediary, but the winery has to charge the set price.
Land prices also enter into it. If I am a winemaker at a vineyard that has had it’s land since 1975, I am able to charge differently (lower) than one who recently bought land at a much higher price, and still make money. The Provincially set price will reflect what my economics are.
That being said, expensive wine is a luxury item, and priced as one. Is a Gucci purse worth what people pay?
https://bbc.com/worklife/article/20231121-how-us-wine-became-so-expensive
Interesting read on wine in the US
Shocking thing was the amount of money wholesalers make
Have not read the article
But isn’t the simple answer, cause people will pay that? I mean its not something people need, so retailers will price it and the max price they can.
i thought this must be a typo but the $108 per bottle was quoted in loads of places. Almost 50 million cases a year at over $1200 a case …so a 30 mile valley is producing $60 billion dollars of wine each year. Seems unbelievable.
“In 2022, the average retail price of a bottle of wine from California’s Napa Valley region climbed $17 (£13.6), pushing up the average bottle price to $108 (£86) in 2023”.
Generally wholesalers for wine are price makers not price takers. I think one only makes good money as a producer if you have lots of prestige or can sell from the winery or other wise quite locally.
i thought this must be a typo but the $108 per bottle was quoted in loads of places. Almost 50 million cases a year at over $1200 a case …so a 30 mile valley is producing $60 billion dollars of wine each year. Seems unbelievable.
“In 2022, the average retail price of a bottle of wine from California’s Napa Valley region climbed $17 (£13.6), pushing up the average bottle price to $108 (£86) in 2023”.
That’s BS, there are lot of Napa wines for 20-30$ plus sure this is where the volume is.