Art of The Deal

[Troy_Stark]

Develop relationships with sources, and remember that relationships go both ways. Treat them well. Be understanding and patient. Be willing to take some lesser bottlings from highly allocated producers in order to get the “gems” - often those lesser items will make you very happy. Listen to their recommendations. Don’t haggle with them over a couple bucks here or there. Don’t take advantage. It will pay off over time.

Great advice. And concentrate your purchases amongst a few sources who sell the type of wines you most want.

All of the above is great advice. Going straight to the source cuts out the middle steps and their corresponding mark-ups. Concentrating purchases maximizes the likelihood of better bottles being offered to you in the future.

[Troy_Stark]

Maybe a bit of a Random Question! What is your secret to getting deals on great wine?

Basically, are there any hacks you know of!
Looking for new ideas:)

• nate

Get a part-time job working a few hours/month at a local wine shop that will give you an employee discount. It can really, really drop the price if you can buy at the shop’s cost or a dollar over.

That was my first step into the “great wine deals” club. Working at a wine shop part time will introduce you to wholesalers who you can develop relationships with and figure out creative ways around the three-tier distribution system. Wholesalers then introduce you to suppliers, who can get you even better deals!

This is the way.

[Jay_Winton]

Know that there will always be another deal.

[Scott_G_r_u_n_e_r]

Groupon!!

[Kirk.Grant]

This is the way.

This is the way

[Justin_S1]

The best way to save money on wine purchases is to not frequent wine forums.

Seriously though, I think wine-searcher combined with some email lists like Lopa or Envoyer are the best way to find good deals without much effort.

[Wes_Barton]

If you value being a drinker more than being an investor/collector there are plenty of good deals out there in the sense of wines that massively outperform their price point. Once you know your own palate I think it’s pretty routine to be able to get wines that are at least “as good as” wines two to three times their price, at least for your taste.

If you are looking for wines below market value that is a lot harder. It is sometimes possible to get 25-30% off by buying case lots of not very fashionable but good wines at auction, assuming you don’t value your searching time much and you don’t mind laying out the money for a case. I think that used to be more routine in the past than it is today though.

P.S. edited to say after reading the above – yes, there are occasional blowouts on Winebid, that seems to be the best auction site for that along with K&L. Most recent was Copain where they had a bunch of good 8-10 year old Pinots and Syrahs going for basically half price or less. But you need to know you like the producer.

This. If you’re buying for your own consumption your metric is your palate, not a critic’s rating or market recognition. Paying 100% on a $50 wine you like is a better deal than getting 50% off a $150 wine you don’t like as much. You can find a lot of guidance on this forum. Berserker Days is a great opportunity to sample a lot of excellent wines.

[Marshall_Manning]

If you value being a drinker more than being an investor/collector there are plenty of good deals out there in the sense of wines that massively outperform their price point. Once you know your own palate I think it’s pretty routine to be able to get wines that are at least “as good as” wines two to three times their price, at least for your taste.

If you are looking for wines below market value that is a lot harder. It is sometimes possible to get 25-30% off by buying case lots of not very fashionable but good wines at auction, assuming you don’t value your searching time much and you don’t mind laying out the money for a case. I think that used to be more routine in the past than it is today though.

P.S. edited to say after reading the above – yes, there are occasional blowouts on Winebid, that seems to be the best auction site for that along with K&L. Most recent was Copain where they had a bunch of good 8-10 year old Pinots and Syrahs going for basically half price or less. But you need to know you like the producer.

This. If you’re buying for your own consumption your metric is your palate, not a critic’s rating or market recognition. Paying 100% on a $50 wine you like is a better deal than getting 50% off a $150 wine you don’t like as much. You can find a lot of guidance on this forum. Berserker Days is a great opportunity to sample a lot of excellent wines.

I totally agree with this as well. If you’re one of those whose income hasn’t grown along with the prices of many wines you used to enjoy, you can still find lots of really interesting wines under $50, they just might not be from Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Napa Cab. I get as much enjoyment out of the $20 Grechetto I’m drinking now as I would a $40 Bourgogne Blanc. Different wines, different foods, different moods, but the quality level is similar.

If you’re looking at auction, look for producers that might be out of favor now, might have sold to a large conglomerate, or might be out of business but that at one time made nice wines. Over the past few months I’ve had 1994 Noceto Sangiovese, 1989 Cline Mourvedre, 1995 Matanzas Creek Merlot and 1987 Dry Creek Vineyards Merlot. All were drinking well, delicious, and the combined auction price for the 4 bottles total was right around $50.