Now You See it, Now You Don’t: How Wineries Get Rid of Excess Wine.
August 23, 2012
Every winery faces the problem that at one time or another: a quantity of their wine has not sold. Most often, there is nothing wrong with the wine — it merely hasn’t sold in a defined period of time.
At some point the winery or wholesaler has to decide how to make this excess juice “vanish.” But making wine disappear is more complicated than it may appear! Most wineries can’t simply afford to deeply discount a wine of which it plans to make more vintages of that same wine for two reasons:
– The deeply discounted price casts a negative image on the winery, implying that the wine never was worth the original price for which it was sold.
– The following vintage will be seen as overpriced by comparison.
Numerous tactics are used to make wines go away. One trick used is to sell the excess wine to airlines, where it would be poured by the glass on international flights. Another is to offer visitors to the winery’s tasting room an ultra-deep discount on a wine only at the winery. But one clever winery did the opposite.
This particular winery earned gold medals for its 1981 and 1982 Cabernets. The former sold well until the latter won its gold medal. At that point, sales of the 1981 (a better wine) stopped cold; the ’82 was selling like wildfire. However, instead of discounting the 1981, the winery owner put gold stickers on the bottles that said “Reserve,” increased the price of the wine by $2 a bottle, and it soon sold out.
Click here for the full article from Press Democrat.
My Thoughts…
There’s no doubt that consumers are, for the most part, blatantly unaware of the “tactics” used by wineries to get rid of excess wine. On second-thought, the word “tactics” makes these transactions probably sound a little more devious and underhanded than they actually are. Business really is business, and without viable solutions to offload their excess juice, most wineries would surely go bankrupt.
In actuality, a great deal of companies base their business model on this surplus, wine brands such as Cameron Hughes, for example; who are masters of sourcing excess juice from wineries, and relabeling it under their own name. ABC Liquors have more recently launched a “Block Series” of wines, which instead of bearing the name of a specific winery, instead bears only the name of the “vineyard block” the wine was sourced from. These firms are sworn to secrecy as to the name of the winery, most often signing nondisclosure agreements, with the only clue as to the wines’ origin being the named-appellation on the label.
Certainly, if you’re a savvy wine-shopper, most of these wines can represent excellent value, even if you’re not 100% sure where the wine came from…it’s always fun to guess!
Posted in News | Leave a comment //Five Patron Saints of Wine.
August 22, 2012…and who ever said the church was so opposed to alcohol?
St. Trifon Zarezan, or St. Trifon the Pruner
Saint Trifon was/is the Bulgarian patron saint of vine growers and winemakers.
Famous for:
Rumor has it that Trifon was also named “the drunkard” due to his love of vino. All was going so well for good ol’ St. Trif, until according to legend, he laughed at a vision of the virgin Mary (after she dropped by his vineyard one day) and stated that she didn’t know who the father of her son was. He clearly favored himself as Maury Povich….
For his sins, he was forced to cut off his nose with a pair of pruning shears. OUCH!!!
Celebrated on:
February 14th, but he kind-of gets overshadowed by St Valentine! He can also be celebrated on the 1st of February, in-line with the Gregorian calendar.
St. Vincent of Saragossa
Official patron saint of winemakers and vinegar makers, which is the same thing I guess, depending on who is making the wine…
Famous for:
With the persecution of Christians under the Romans (around 304AD), both him and his Bishop, Valerius, were put on trial for refusing to burn his sacred scripture.
Supposedly, Valerius suffered from a speech impediment (in the wine business we call that “slurring”), so Vincent did all the talking. Unfortunately, he probably should have hired a real lawyer as Vincent was sentenced to brutal torture, but Bishop Valerius was only exiled.
Celebrated on:
Saint Vincent is remembered on 22nd January, mainly by the grape growers of the Burgundy region of France, who celebrate him throughout the whole last week of January.
Wine Tasting to Benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at the Fresh Market (Ponte Vedra).
August 22, 2012
I Know What I Plan on Voting For!
August 22, 2012
Ribeira Sacra "Alodio" Mencia, Spain
August 20, 2012
Grapes
100% Mencia – pronounced “Mehn-cee-ah,” (or “Mehn-thee-ah” in Castilian Spanish…say it like you have a lisp.)
Facts
- My advice for wine drinkers (especially new wine drinkers) has ALWAYS been to try and venture outside your comfort zone and be open to trying new wines i.e. don’t get caught in a rut, drinking essentially the same old wine that you’ve been drinking for years. The Ribeira Sacra “Alodio” Mencia is a perfect example of me practicing what I preach! The label tells you NOTHING about the wine itself (except of course what you can attempt to decipher from the label), and I believe this is the first time I’ve ever tried the Mencia grape.
- Mencia is slowly increasing in popularity throughout Spain, although you’re still hard-pressed to find it in the U.S. Plantings of Mencia are currently thought to total around 22,500 acres (35 square miles).
- Winemaker Carlos Costoya tends five hectares of 30-40 year-old Mencia vines in the Ribeiras do Sil district of Ribeira Sacra, with the vineyards being known for their high slate content. Carlos only deals with grapes that are indigenous to the district.
- It was once believed that the Mencia grape (even according to older versions of the Oxford Companion to Wine!) was a relative of the Cabernet Franc grape (of Bordeaux fame). The rumor was further aided by the fact that the two grapes taste very similar. However, DNA testing (yes, it works for grape vines too!) confirmed this to be inaccurate.
How to Do Laundry.
August 19, 2012
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