So, out of a business curiosity, educate me:
Do these wines pricing reflect a secondary market, i.e. if you get them from the estate on either a list or as approved distributor, do they cost as much? Is it like Screagle where the high pricing is mainly the after market?
Do they have a list at all? Do they sell DTC? Or only to distr?
Pricing has been discussed quite a bit recently. There is a significant secondary market, however, in the US the distributorship and retailers often mark up well above normal retail as well.
They do sell DTC in France. At least one of our members here buys from the cellar door and has been for decades. No idea if that’s even possible these days unless you have a longstanding relationship.
Best prices are to be had on other small and exclusive lists that are either closed or take a small fortune in other buying per year to get an allocation.
Most of my info is from the DRC allocation thread I started back in March and the generosity of the community via PM.
There has long been a small out the door customer list at the Domaine. Wilson Daniels is the sole US importer. In recent years they have significantly raised their wholesale and DTC list prices but those prices are still below secondary market post release.
I know this is not exactly what you are asking, but from a business standpoint, I think they appreciate about as good as anything. For the last couple of decades, if you bought two bottles of La Tache every year, you could sell the second bottle after holding for a few years and drink the other for free, and then some maybe. My few La Tache bottles have increased in price by 400$ to 600%. Like a dummy I never put this into practice. I just bought a bottle here and there to put away.