2013 Patricia Green Cellars sub $20 Pinot for Berserkers

For those of you who may not have seen the thread in the Wine Talk forum this post and probably the thread it engenders comes from the below thread:

Widely available cheap bright Pinot Noir? - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers (Widely available cheap bright Pinot Noir?)

I talked with Todd and he read through the thread to get an idea of what was happening and asked that I set this thread up and post a link to it in the other thread in Wine Talk.

It happens that we have a wine from the 2013 vintage that we/I believe is among the best wines we produced in 2013, has excellent pedigree and is something that drinks well now (as many 2013s do) but will age far into the future as well. I described it in the Wine Talk thread in this manner:

This wine is a 2013. The base of it (about 30 percent) is our Olenik Vineyard, Anklebreaker Block which we bottled on its own in 2011 and 2012 and sold for $57/bottle. That block is Pommard Clone. It is filled out by the Dijon 115 from Olenik, 3 different clones from Lia’s Vineyard and 2 clones from our Estate Vineyard. So, it is a Chehalem Mountain AVA wine. We just don’t have an AVA program. We are pretty much all SVD wines and that is where we exist mentally, spiritually and business wise. This wine is really, really good. I just don’t know that for the volume we have that right now I have the sales and mental time to put the emphasis on this wine and get distributors behind it and such. Lots of winery owner folk here can tell you the same story on stuff. I am super happy with this wine and proud of its CM nature I just would prefer not to engage in a new thrust in sales that differs widely from the general nature of what we do.

I said in what was at the time a tongue and cheek manner that if we could get a critical mass of Berserker folk (and presumably friends and associates) together we would simply take the price we would charge our distributors around the country and offer it up here.

The critical mass number is important as we cannot offer up a large amount of wine for public sale at basically FOB (freight on board) pricing and only sell a smaller fraction of it via that manner and then have to go back to our normal means of distribution. That number is 600 cases to make this work. I have no idea if this will fly but there was a lot of interest in this wine basically sight unseen and on (presumably) the trust folks have in the wines we have made over the years.

The price would be $19/bottle (selling it to our distributors at that price basically gets you to the price we would be targeting at retail which would be around $45/bottle). For those that we would be shipping the wine to we would split the shipping charges with you (so, 50% off our normal shipping rates). Obviously if you were local or in some manner picking the wine up there would be no cost beyond the wine itself.

I have said that I believe this wine is well worth the $45 price tag let alone less than half that. I also know anyone can say stuff like that. Later this week I will send out individual bottles to some folks on the board who are regular posters, post tasting notes, drink Oregon/Pinot Noir and seem to have good reputations for knowing what they are talking about and write well. In most cases I already have these folks mailing info and such so that makes it easier. This is who we will send out wines to:

Mike Pobega (I mean if you want someone to open the box and write a tasting note who else you gonna call?), Richard Trimpi, Mitch Tallan, Ron Felthoven, Glenn Levine, Roger Nellans, Mike Dildine, Rick Allen, Scott Brunson, James Lyon, Michael Davidson and dsGriswold. I will need a little information from a couple of folks there to get wines out. Don’t feel bad if you weren’t picked. It was a little random. Not trying to play favorites or anything. If any of you mentioned here do not want to do this or feel you are being asked into doing something you are not down for then let me know and we won’t send you the bottle. Or take the bottle and don’t write a note. I would hope folks feel like they are helping other folks get in on an opportunity much the way any of us would when we taste something we like that is available/on deal and we post a note. If you don’t like the wine, write that note as well. If anyone wants to comment on this or has a way to make it more efficient/smarter then by all means give me a heads up. I would not ship wines for the most part until Friday.

The wine is not currently labeled and has no legal label under which to go under at present so in the event that by some miracle we get to a critical mass then it will take a bit to get a label and get it approved and then labeled so don’t expect this wine in April or anything. I would hope that it is worth waiting for.

I know folks have posted their interest and quantity level in the other thread. If you have done so I have that down. If you after reading this or a (perhaps) positive tasting note or two you want to change that number or have friends that want to go in on it with you, etc., etc. please let me know and I will modify. If you left sort of a vague note on what you might be interested let me know what the number is. If you want further information or want to do this privately please feel free to PM, email or call me. I think all my info is in my profile.

I hope that everyone who sees this thread for the first time either goes and sees the first thread or simply takes this in the spirit that this is being done in. This was purely an off the cuff remark I made about a wine we have that is unlabeled and I have not been able to think into a particular vein of sales. I really like and value this board and community and if this can be pulled together so folks get something they would like at a really good price (I think so anyway) then hopefully everyone involved benefits.

Sincerely,

Jim Anderson
Patricia Green Cellars

Thanks, Jim. Looking forward to trying this. Two cases for now. Perhaps a few more to follow.

I’ll take a case.

Two cases for me, please.

Jim - I will take a case. You can ship with my WB wines. Thanks!

Sounds great Jim – looking forward to tasting.

I’m in for at least a case if not more.

I’m in for 2 cases. I’m local and will pick up if that’s ok.

Two cases for me.

I feel honored to be in such exalted company. [wow.gif]
As stated on the original thread put me down for 2 cases with a third to send to my daughter in NYC.
Just yesterday my wife was saying I need to send them some cheaper wine as she doesn’t like to open the relatively more expensive stuff I send.
This is a perfect opportunity to get some expensive wine at a cheaper price. [thankyou.gif]

Jim, thanks for considering me as a taster. I welcome the opportunity to taste yours and Mother Nature’s creation.

exciting indeed.

I would be in for a case

in

I’m in for a case if it happens.

2 cases for me

1 case if we can make it happen!

Anklebreaker is some yummy stuff

I would like a case, please.

5 cases please…

Case at least

I think I could go a case - pending Glenn Levine’s positive tasting note of course [snort.gif]