Rhys Incoming....Jan. 31st

[craig dods]

not to get into a board bashing riff, but it astonishing to me the difference in the interest in rhys between this and the 'other' board - there are 4 posts on this release there. again, all bashing aside, how can that be? are there any other wineries that there is such a massive disparity in interest - over 50 times the number of posts here?

[Russ Williams]

not to get into a board bashing riff, but it astonishing to me the difference in the interest in rhys between this and the 'other' board - there are 4 posts on this release there. again, all bashing aside, how can that be? are there any other wineries that there is such a massive disparity in interest - over 50 times the number of posts here?

I don't know about other wineries, but I do know the folks here with good palates outweigh that other board by 50 to 1.

[jbray23]

Kevin,
Do I just wishlist the swan terrace in the comment section? Currently I can only wishlist the Chard on the web page.
I am waiting to Friday to place my order so I hope that my 6 bottles are there. (mortgages are a bitch!)

[PaulJ]

Kevin,
Do I just wishlist the swan terrace in the comment section? Currently I can only wishlist the Chard on the web page.
I am waiting to Friday to place my order so I hope that my 6 bottles are there. (mortgages are a bitch!)

I believe you can only wishlist what you get offered on wishlist. If you don't have something available to wishlist you're not high enough the allocation list yet. However, I'm sure someone from Rhys will pop on soon to update and possibly correct me.

[Kevin Harvey]

Kevin,
Do I just wishlist the swan terrace in the comment section? Currently I can only wishlist the Chard on the web page.
I am waiting to Friday to place my order so I hope that my 6 bottles are there. (mortgages are a bitch!)

Jason,
Customers are not given the option to wishlist a bottling when it is not mathematically possible that they will be granted a bottle. I wish I had better news!

[M Mager]

Mark,
In order to allow our wine to get a little more bottle time prior to release, we are staggering the next release between both 2009 and 2010 vintages. The Fall 2012 release will contain the 2009 wines from Horseshoe vineyard as well as the 2010 Rhys San Mateo.

Kevin,

Just curious, as I start to budget for my fall wine purchases... Do you plan to "line price" the 2010 San Mateo Pinot Noir at the same price point as the 2009 SCM Pinot Noir offered now?

Thanks,
Michael

[Kevin Harvey]

Michael,
We plan to price the 2010 Rhys San Mateo at $45. There is nearly twice as much of it compared to the SCMtns bottling so allocations will be better.

[Jay Carroll]

Michael,
We plan to price the 2010 Rhys San Mateo at $45. There is nearly twice as much of it compared to the SCMtns bottling so allocations will be better.

Case discounts???

[markye]

Michael,
We plan to price the 2010 Rhys San Mateo at $45. There is nearly twice as much of it compared to the SCMtns bottling so allocations will be better.

Case discounts???

$30 like the Alesia Sonoma?

[Kevin Harvey]

No case discounts or $29 San Mateo this Fall, but I do promise not raise prices again between now and then!

[Andrew L.]

When is this scheduled to ship? I know the winery pickup date is March 17th, but some of don't have the privilege! Just trying to plan some cross border shenanigans.

[Brad S w a l l o w]

I finally placed my order this morning. I left one each of the Alpine and Santa Cruz PN on the table for wish/wait-listers. For this I blame Berserker Day.

[Kevin Harvey]

When is this scheduled to ship? I know the winery pickup date is March 17th, but some of don't have the privilege! Just trying to plan some cross border shenanigans.

Andrew,
The current plan is to start shipping the 2nd week of March.

[BruceS]

Currently allocations are determined by $$$ spent, which does make sense. However, as a low spender on the totem pole, would it be possible in a couple of years, to add seniority into the mixture as well? Is that even a good idea? Just thinking out loud here.

For example, members who have been consistently buying for 10+ releases (but total spend normally wouldn't get access to low production wines that vintage) also get a one-bottle allocation of some of the low-production wines.

I don't know how Rhys allocates wine, but I am familiar with how large business view customers. Customers that buy a lot are great, but add risk to the business since the loss of a singe large customer hurts the business. Typically, a business wants a around 50/50, wht half of the product sold to a few large customers and the other half to many smaller customers. That helps minimize the risk of losing a single customer.

My guess is that Rhys has this type ofa system in mind.... Namely, take care of your best customers first, but always have a large base of smaller customers. YMMV

[Jim Hartten]

Bruce, Rhys uses a modified tier system like many others - early supporters have gotten preference and purchase history is also factored in as there have been several years of releases offering various bottlings. I don't know for sure, but I don't think the first tier buyers are able to buy that much more than buyers down the food chain. For example, I was offered 2 chard, 2 Swan and 4 Alpine this time, and ended up taking 1 Swan and 3 Alpine. I expect the higher tier folks may have been offered a few bottles more of each wine than my above noted allotment. But I don't think folks are ordering cases of Swan and Alpine chard. Alltold, Rhys does, in my view, an outstanding job of spreading the wealth. Not to sound like a broken record, but the on-line ordering is the best I have seen - wish more of life was so simple!

[craig vanderah]

Dropped off the list last night after joining very early on while at the Parker Board before the first release. The latest price increases were the end of the road for me. So my allocation of the sought after Swan, Alpine PN and Chards goes back in the pool for those on the waiting list and those doing a wish list. Best to Kevin et al. I have to say, I feel liberated. The mailing list treadmill gets old. Kevin runs his mailing list as well as anyone can but I won't miss it. Rhys was my last CA mailing list comittment.

[Chris Seiber]

Dropped off the list last night after joining very early on while at the Parker Board before the first release. The latest price increases were the end of the road for me. So my allocation of the sought after Swan, Alpine PN and Chards goes back in the pool for those on the waiting list and those doing a wish list. Best to Kevin et al. I have to say, I feel liberated. The mailing list treadmill gets old. Kevin runs his mailing list as well as anyone can but I won't miss it. Rhys was my last CA mailing list comittment.

We're demoting you to the Mark Squires board for that.

[Joe Galewski]

Dropped off the list last night after joining very early on while at the Parker Board before the first release. The latest price increases were the end of the road for me. So my allocation of the sought after Swan, Alpine PN and Chards goes back in the pool for those on the waiting list and those doing a wish list. Best to Kevin et al. I have to say, I feel liberated. The mailing list treadmill gets old. Kevin runs his mailing list as well as anyone can but I won't miss it. Rhys was my last CA mailing list comittment.

I'm not ready to do that just yet, but I'm currently being more selective with what I buy and a couple more price increases will push me off the list too.

[Jim Hartten]

Craig, correct me if I'm wrong, but you had been taking your full allocation every release, so this is a dramatic change! Hopefully, we will be rewarded for waiting on these wines and if they develop to expectations maybe you can start ordering again. Assuming you bought this past fall you should get the opportunity to buy this comig fall even if you don't buy this spring.

[craig vanderah]

Jim, over the past few weeks I had a "come to Jesus" experince and decided the whole mailing list thing is not worth it, even if, you get an opportunity to buy one or two outstanding cuvees from a great producer. In the typical mailing list senario you're stuck buying a lot of pretty good wines, twice a year, just to insure you get a a shot at a few great wines. I'm better off going after targeted btls that I'm reasonably sure will rock and cherry picking at a price I think is worth it. I'll be a selective opportunistic retail buyer of blts I think are great values going forward rather than a ML slave. Rhys was my very last and final mailing list. Rhys is a great operation but it no longer fits me. I'm done, done, done with ML.

Craig, correct me if I'm wrong, but you had been taking your full allocation every release, so this is a dramatic change! Hopefully, we will be rewarded for waiting on these wines and if they develop to expectations maybe you can start ordering again. Assuming you bought this past fall you should get the opportunity to buy this comig fall even if you don't buy this spring.

[Jeff Allison]

Jim, over the past few weeks I had a "come to Jesus" experince and decided the whole mailing list thing is not worth it, even if, you get an opportunity to buy one or two outstanding cuvees from a great producer. In the typical mailing list senario you're stuck buying a lot of pretty good wines, twice a year, just to insure you get a a shot at a few great wines. I'm better off going after targeted btls that I'm reasonably sure will rock and cherry picking at a price I think is worth it. I'll be a selective opportunistic retail buyer of blts I think are great values going forward rather than a ML slave. Rhys was my very last and final mailing list. Rhys is a great operation but it no longer fits me. I'm done, done, done with ML.

Craig, correct me if I'm wrong, but you had been taking your full allocation every release, so this is a dramatic change! Hopefully, we will be rewarded for waiting on these wines and if they develop to expectations maybe you can start ordering again. Assuming you bought this past fall you should get the opportunity to buy this comig fall even if you don't buy this spring.

Craig,

Understand the mentality completely. I'll always have a bottle of rhys to open for you whenever you make it out this way!

I have added to my mailing list since I moved out here. Part of it is the fact I can drive down the road and taste at the winery and pick out what I want. I nice perk of living out here.

Cheers,

Jeff

[craig vanderah]

Jeff, I'm pretty sure if lived in CA I'd feel more affintiy for nearby outstanding sincere producers like Rhys. Most of my cellar is European and I really prefer wines like D'Angerville & Mugnier Burgs, Giacosa Barbaresco, and Old style Rioja like Lopez Herdia emphasizing finesse and elegance over power. Not many CA PNs deliver that. I was really a fish out of water trying too hard to love CA wines. I'm totally at peace with moving on and focusing on the wine styles that really wow me.

[jbray23]

Kevin,
Last question, when are wl granted?

[Kevin Harvey]

Jason,
We will grant them next week. There won't be much Alpine PN or SCM to grant but we were very conservative with the Swan Terrace (since we oversold it last time) and Chardonnay so there will be good wishlisting for those two bottlings.

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support!!

[Josh Shields]

Wish lists are rollin in. +2 chards!

[A K a I l]

Wish lists are rollin in. +2 chards!

+1

[Matthew Bourbeau]

Wish lists are rollin in. +2 chards!

+1

+2, a pleasant surprise. I've had decidedly mixed luck wishlisting on other mailing lists. Looking forward to the wines Kevin.

Matt

[Arnold Caplan]

Got both!!!

Chard & Pinot

[Steve Brickley]

Granted one more chard. All in all 3 Alpine PN, 3 Alpine Chard, 2 Swan. Tried to get greedy asking for more Swan and hoping for a Alpine PN Magnum. It would have been the first mag I would have bought in my lifetime and a good start. Happy with what I was allocated though. See you at Pick-up day hopefully.

[SteveC]

Got wish list of 2 chards (up from none in the offer), another Santa Cruz and another Alpine

[David McMillen]

Did you guys get emails?

[jbray23]

1chard, 1 alpine added on, for my second mailer that's pretty good.
No email, just an invoice.

[D Jorgenson]

Got a couple Alpine chards from my wishlist, looking forward to it. My first Rhys chard

[Brian G r a f s t r o m]

Was the invoice was received via email?

[D Jorgenson]

I just got an email last night with a new invoice reflecting the additional wine.