Ranging from painful to confiscatory, it is true, but this is quite a list of Italian wines. We bought a gift card in the darkest days and will be using it in the not too distant future. And I’ll be slumming off the list (no corkage)
I found 2 whites that I think are great bargains at retail. So while the markup is still criminal, it bothers me a touch less. Plus they are some of the lowest prices on the list. No such luck with reds or sparkling.
15057 Vietti, arneis, Roero 2017 65
15477 Azienda Colli di Lapio di Romano Clelia, fiano di Avellino, Lapio 2017 75
If you have access to an electron microscope, you can find ‘reasonable’ prices for Piedmont wines from the last century.
A crucial question: How do they feel about taking back wines that are blatantly dead? If the answer is ‘yes’, I’m good with a 1970 Produttori Pora for $365. I would go in expecting it to be very great wine, but would expect my money back if it was clearly over the hill.
'89 Massolino Vigna Rionda Riserva = $390. Looks like an outlier on an otherwise insanely priced list. Not only is that a great price, but it’s the sort of bottle that is probably about impossible to find at any price.
When will some restaurants learn that if they just priced their wines at a reasonable markup, they would sell more bottles, and thus make a higher profit overall…price the wines so people say “wow, that is not too bad a price for that wine, let’s get it”, and maybe, just maybe, they order a 2nd bottle. Instead, a list like this makes people say “wow, these prices are insane…let’s spend 15 minutes looking for a lower priced wine that we can at least maybe enjoy with our dinner, but just one bottle for sure”!..