Bottle Barn in Santa Rosa is one of my favorite retailers. No pretensions, just a warehouse space filled with lots of wine, beer, liquor, liqueur, etc. Prices are good, and sometimes great. It’s occasionally possible to find an older vintage of something interesting at a very good price. So my wife and I were there on Saturday, wanting to pick up a few bottles. Laying on the floor with some other cases of various wines is a half-case of 2011 Pecchenino Barolo (Le Coste) priced at $35.99. I don’t know anything about the producer, but I figure at $36 per bottle I’ll pick up all six; it seems like a great price for any Barolo. I get home and start checking, and now this looks like a great buy – really great! Plus, it seems to be a fairly well regarded producer, though not widely available.
Fast forward a couple of days, I’m back at BB yesterday, swing by the Italian shelf, and there’s the same wine, but priced at $53.99. This is much more in line with what I saw on Wine Searcher. Okay, someone with dyslexia must have incorrectly priced the six I picked up a few days previous. I find one of the employees (who has been there for at least a few years, so has some seniority), and I bring over a bottle of the correctly priced wine and explain the situation. I offer to bring back the bottles I picked up since it’s obvious they were incorrectly priced. Nothing doing. “We made the sale, and if that’s the price that was marked, that’s the price. Don’t worry about it, but thanks for asking.” I love Bottle Barn. They could easily have simply taken me up on the offer, and had me to bring the bottles in next time I was there (and it wouldn’t have bothered me in the least).
On another note, does anyone have any information about Pecchenino, the 2011 Le Coste in particular? I’ll likely do a pop and pour to test the waters, but curious about other people’s experience.
Good on you for admitting that there was a pricing error and good on BB for standing behind the marked price. It’s the type of experience that would make me a very loyal customer.
Love Bottle Barn. For some reason, I don’t think I’ve made it out there for over a year, so your post has reminded me to go.
Great score on the Pecchenino…though I haven’t tried it, reviews suggest it’s traditionally made and right up my alley…If you pop one in the interests of science, please put up a tn.
Katrina, I’m often in Santa Rosa on Tuesdays, so I swing by and pick up a few bottles (mostly daily drinkers). BB is also our go-to place for rosé. I’ll try to remember to put up my TN.
Not sure, Xavier. When I was out there last Spring, I think a new ownership was in the works.
Ben is the one who (mostly) does the wine buying and a bif factor in why the BB is so great.
Tom
Back to you. Nice job bringing the possibility that it was a screwup to their attention. That’s gentlemanly.
Yes, great for BB too for responding as they did, but that’s the behavior that is demanded of them if not expected. Your bar is lower, and you exceeded it by far. Bravo.