Well I just spoke with one of ,y retailers who told me hid DRC allocation was cut severely. Has anyone heard anything ? How about release date or prices.
This is also what I have been told (reliable source). The Domaine has cut allocations where there’s been obvious greed, i.e. excessive margins, in an effort to sell wines to those who will drink the wines rather than sell them right away for a lot more money… at least this is what happens in France.
I know of a restaurant who has bought DRC for decades. One of the partners (whom I am friends with) told me that their allocation had been cut by 80% and whereas they used to get 1/2 case to a case of LT every year, they were only offered one bottle for 2010. Allocation was down by about 80% overall.
It isn’t a rumor. It’s a fact. They’re staging tastings in key markets, finding who the collectors are, and selling direct. They see the profits that others are getting, and want them for themselves. Of course they say, “we’re doing this to keep the prices FAIR”…
In increasing fashion, I find that the exclusive national importer relationships are fully abused, in the sense that they don’t actually distribute, they just keep all of the cherries for direct sales. Think Rosenthal selling direct in NYC with the vast majority of Barthod/Fourrier, Diageo selling 80% of their allocations in NYC of Roumier/Angerville etc. The growers know that it’s bullshit, but the checks get paid, there is history in their relationships, and the changeover to regional distributors involves an amount of bureaucratic work that they find daunting.
I think that things will change, however, eventually…