Copain just sent an email they are releasing this in a week. They also offered up multiple wine clubs and it looks like to save your member pricing discount you will need to be in one after December. Anybody have any experience with their wine clubs? I would hate to lose my discount on Les Voisins.
Wondering the same myself about the wine clubs. Not a big fan of this concept…
I thought the 09 Kisers were exceptional. I’m reviewing the wine club options.
I find this to be an odd move, to say the least. I have a rather poor view of wine clubs in general (all it takes is ONE bottle I didn’t want to make it not worth it), and I can’t recall any other mailing list-centric winery trying to move people into a wine club like this. Love their SVD’s, and I hope I still get priority access to them, but i fI don’t there are plenty of other producers who I’m sure will happily take my money in exchange for wines I want to purchase.
Matt
my sentiments exactly
I was able to get a few “preview” bottles of the Kisers in my fall order, and had intended on trying both the “En Haut” and “En Bas” side by side over the Thanksgiving break. However, I decided instead to try a new and old version of the En Haut together. I recently posted this note on Cellartracker. I was not floored by the 2009 En Haut, as I was hoping to be, but this is probably because I didn’t give it enough air/time, and this bottle might also have been suffering a bit from travel shock since I just received it 3 weeks ago.
11/24/2011 rated 91 points: Drank for Thanksgiving dinner alongside the 2004 En Haut. Decanted 3 hours in advance. Upon opening, a very muted nose, not giving much at all even after several hours in the decanter. On the other hand, the older wine was much more forward (not decanted), elegant, with more prominent red fruit and softer structure. The 2009 was clearly built for the long haul, with prominent acidity, more restrained fruit, and in need of a lot of time. Perhaps shutting down a bit now, or maybe I needed to open a day earlier. In any case, I was extremely pleased with the evolution of the 2004, and am happy to have 5 more of these in the cellar. The 2004 was a stunner right now, while I’ll have to revisit the 2009 again in a few years. Seems to have lots of upside potential though.
I am still on the fence about how much I will reload given that these are now pricey ($70 for the En Haut, $65 for the En Bas at ML prices) and funds and cellar space are pretty tight. The Single Vineyard club is tempting but as much as I love Copain (close to 200 bottles in my cellar going back to 1999), 3 cases/yr is a lot of wine.
cheers,
scott
Scott, 100% agree. A 3x6 single vineyard where I pick the wines would probably get me to bite. 3x12 is just too much and a definite no go if I can’t choose.
Same. I would like to know more about the single vineyard club in particular. For example, does it call for purchase of four bottles of each of the 9 single vineyard wines, with 12 bottle shipments 3 times per year, or could a club member opt to get more of some single vineyard wines and less of others to get to the 36-bottle annual minimum?
In reading the email closely it sounds to me that all one is losing by not being a wine club member is the 15% discount applied to Ensemble and Voisins wines. No that big of deal to me as I do not purchase a lot of these. The SVD club makes no sense either for me as I do not want or have the space to purchase 3 cases per year. Thus, I do not see any negative impact as a result of not being a club member.
My questions exactly, Brad. If the former, I am much less likely to opt for the wine club option.
were the 07 wines priced at $50?
I am on the fence with this one, wish they were priced the same as the other svd pinots
My interpretation is that you would also lose the 15% discount (plus free shipping at the six bottle level) on SVD wines - not just Ensemble and Voisins?
In both 2006 and 2007 the En Bas was $50, the En Haut was $60.
I’ve been buying 3-6 cases of Copain a year for many years now.
I have no interest in joining a club, and was pleased when they dropped the 3 bottle increments.
It would be amazing to me if they stopped discounting the lower end wines for me.
But that is fine if they choose to - without the discount these wines will be priced against many Oregon SVDs.
And you know, I already own more than enough Copain anyway. Glad to see they are doing so well.
What is the “old” (current) deal? IIRC all that was necessary was to buy 12 bottles a year of anything and you’d get the discount and free shipping. If their goal is to get their members to buy more wine they could have just increased the minimum. I’d probably stay even if I had to buy 18 or 24 bottles, but requiring wine club membership just isn’t my cup of tea…
For reference, below is the email I received.
I’ve managed not to belong to a wine club so far and I’m probably not their target market. (I only purchase 4 bottles/yr and in the name of full disclosure: I get heartburn spending more than $50/bottle for anything)
But it initially struck me as odd and did have to take a second look when I read it. Don’t have an opinion either way though.
BTW - the service from them has been great. My fall shipment fell between the cracks, partially my doing as I changed my order all around, and Jim was all over it calling me on my cell to let me know it was straightened out. That was over the coarse of 20 minutes from my initial inquiry.
In just one week, we will release two of our 2009 Pinot Noirs from the Kiser vineyard. Your support of Copain over the past 12 months has earned you exclusive access to these two highly coveted wines including magnums.
In addition, I’d like to personally extend an invitation to you for membership in one of our Wine Clubs. Over the past year, Club Copain has become more popular than we could have imagined. Today, we proudly introduce our new Single Vineyard Club and a Pinot Noir Only option for our Club Copain members.
As a loyal client, your satisfaction is paramount and we’re confident that one of our many Club options will fit you like a glove. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you personally to answer any of your questions and enroll you in one of our Clubs.
Through the end of December 2011, we will continue to honor your Allocated Member Pricing on all Tous Ensemble and Les Voisins wines but beginning January 1st we will no longer maintain member pricing for non-club members.
Club Copain
With shipments as low as $81.60** for 4 bottles each quarter, Club Copain guarantees access to all wines at member pricing of 15% off. Join at the 6-bottle level and receive complimentary shipping and a few Single Vineyard bottles as well.
Customize your Membership: Reds Only or Pinot Noir Only options availableSingle Vineyard Club - limited to 200 members
Get unparalelled access to our 9 highly acclaimed Single Vineyard wines with 12 bottles of Single Vineyard wine per shipment (3 x per year) and Member pricing of 15% off all wines.Single Vineyard Club Member Benefits include:
- Complimentary shipping anytime on any order - perfect for gifts!
- Priority access to re-orders of all single vineyard releases
- Guaranteed magnum of our rarest wine - Kiser Greffeaux
- Complimentary tastings for you and 3 guests in our tasting room
we’re confident that one of our many Club options will fit you like a glove.
LOL, I missed that part the first time I read this. Something about this REALLY rubs me the wrong way…
Matt
Someone please refresh my memory – what was the discount we have previously received just for ordering off the mailing list? Was that just a discount for buying a full case at one time, or was it somehow reflected in the prices that were listed in our offerings, such that the list prices will be substantially higher in the future if you’re not joining the wine club?
I’m like the rest of you, no interest in joining a wine club (of any producer), notwithstanding that I like Copain wines. I’m marginal to out at $65-70/bottle for the Kisers as well.
One other question – I’ve only visited there once, but there was no charge for the tasting as a member of the mailing list. Would there be a charge now if you aren’t in the wine club? I wouldn’t make a decision about that based on the prospect of a free tasting next time I go to Sonoma, but it’s just another area where this email has me confused about the negative implications of the club benefits (i.e. where it says that you get all these benefits for joining the club, does it imply that you won’t get these if you just keep buying off the mailing list?).
Mike,
The deal this year was you had to buy a case to remain on the mailing list and you had to buy a case at a time to get the free shipping. They did work with me and allow me to build a case over two offerings to qualify for free shipping. I’m not sure if I received a 15% discount. If this is all going away unless I am a member of one of the clubs, I will be extremely disappointed and will be forced to re-evaluate my purchases. Hopefully someone from Copain will chime in and clear things up.
ok i will try my best not to butcher their words and I didnt get to speak to Jim he is going to call back. Firstly I love Copain and they couldnt be nicer people. This appears to be a slow transition away from the allocation game, I am assuming to make life a little eaiser for them. They also stated that this makes it simpler for a customer to order (whethere we agree with the system or not).
If you are not in a club you would lose your shipping and SVD discount in addition to the lesser bottlings. The single vineyard club would have representation from ALL of their SVD’s. Once the club orders are filled an email will be sent (I do not know if there is a hierarchy for this email or if it is just a blast to everyone, but it sounded like the latter) opening up ordering for any remaining wine first come first served.
They are going to call back about possibly customizing your club orders, but they said call volume was quite high.
they said call volume was quite high
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Send out an e-mail like that, and you’d better expect a lot of questions.