I wouldn’t go that far. With PdB you have a situation where a couple of the crus (Rabaja, Asili) are in far higher demand than the others - yet they are usually all priced the same upon release. So either those fly off the shelves or you have to buy in mixed cases. Then there’s kind of a second tier and then the stragglers. Honestly they seem like a nightmare to sell. But it’s not as though you have 13,000 cases of Rabaja for the taking.
My thoughts as well.
Considering that I’ve ordered over a case of various '16 Barolo from Morrell, I’m also disappointed that I didn’t even get the chance to be offended by receiving such an offer! Didn’t get it at all.
If this ends up being market, I’m just going to backfill.
Yeah. “Criminal” seems bizarrely first world myopia but I do have to wonder if Taittinger and Produttori are in cahoots.
Zachys offered today for more like $80/btl on average.
I prefer “Veblen pricing”
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I sent a note via their website and got a response from the man himself, Aldo Vacca. He offered a strong defense of the value of the wines and of the fact that the pricing is for the betterment of the 54 grower families who participate in the Produttori.
He said that prices have been increasing steadily and that they aren’t ‘the steals’ they have been in the past. He also noted that the sold out last spring in the middle of the pandemic at even higher prices.
So — if the benefit really flows to PdB and not to middlemen in the channel, I feel better about it. At some point though, Rio Sordo is going to be a tough sell. And, my planned purchase of a six-pack of each of the Cru will probably be pulled back. What do I want, another bottle of Pora or one of the myriad of very fine $80 - $100 wines from Barolo, Barbaresco, or elsewhere. It was a much easier call at $50-$60 a bottle.
Anyway, kudos to them. Damn criminals… 
Actually, “predatory pricing” refers to extremely low prices intended to put competitors out of business.
If you buy, you need to lock them up for a long time.
Yes, or to preying on people who don’t realizing they are spending $100 for a wine that will be easily findable for $75 if they wait.
One thing to note is this it the price at Morrell. They currently have quite high prices for other vintages of produttori riserva - for example… 2011 paje ‘sale price’ of $102. I think the eye popping price is may just be this particular retailer, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see prices higher than normal for these.
What would you expect for pricing on a 10 year old vintage? That doesn’t seem too crazy to me, but I dont have that much experience.
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If you buy you need to release the emails
Sure it’s criminal, but is it impeachable?
I did a Zoom tasting (with Aldo Vaca) of some PdB a couple of weeks ago. The 16 ‘regular’ Barbaresco was terrific on it’s own merits and esp for the price. It doesn’t have the glamour of the crus, but I’d get this (and did) over the 15 Muncagota, which we also tasted. The 1970 ‘regular’ Barbaresco was the star, and proof that the ‘regular’ can do great things.
Ignoring whether it’s criminal/gouging/predatory/silly, the crux of the matter is that the Produttori wines (normale as well as crus) have historically been wonderful value plays (if not outright steals – is that criminal?), and now they want to be priced at/above their quality peers in Barbaresco. I admit that i’ve personally bought the wines as values, so it’d be a big change in my mindset.
Tonight we opened the 2012 Produttori normale. It was quite tasty. A QPR champ at $25. Glad I own some 2015 at a similar price. I also went back and saw that I paid $40 for 2008 crus and $60 for a couple of 2015 crus. I’m not tempted at 2016s at $100 but YMMV.
Pricing strategy is complicated, and so is changing a brand’s identity. Perhaps unfairly, I don’t think of PdB crus as riservas; I compare them to other producers’ non-riserva single vineyard wines. Maybe I would change my mind with blind tasting, but I consider PdB as good but not top tier, so I won’t pay more than prices of non-riservas from other good Barbaresco producers. That means easy pass for now, given the good deals usually available. It also worries me that wineries will try to reset the market prices by promoting 2016 greatness, and could get surprised if the market turns its back in future years.
Regards,
Peter
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heck even the $80 mentioned above is a pretty steep jump from the past 3 vintages, which have all been very good quality. granted, I think we all know 16 is the best of the bunch, but a 25% jump compared to a very good vintage in 15? I still get emails from retailers trying to sell the 13s, 14s, and 15s
Totally agree. The regular 2016 is fantastic and in low 30’s. I picked up a bunch of the 2015 CRUs and they are really nice. May not be the same as 2016 but they are in low 60’s.
Morrell currently has the Riservas on for $99 - after the 20% discount for Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
I don’t believe the sale applied to pre-arrivals because I tried with the '16 Pira Vigna Rionda. This was a great sale though. Picked up some '13 Pira Vigna Riondas and I almost picked up some '14 PdB Riservas that were discounted to $60. Not a huge discount but still relatively attractive for those looking to backfill.
It seems that the high(er) prices of the riservas are an American phenomenon.
I saw these wines in German online shops for 50€, and today i have ordered some in a Swiss shop for 50 Fr. (= 55$). Unfortunately the Rabaja and Asili were already sold out, but I got Montefico and Ovello.
That‘s why I thick it‘s not the winery who has massively increased the prices.