I also made svd list this year, guessing the have had a lot of dropoff.
I do like the wines but over a c note delivered is getting high for any Cali pinot, i might be generalising but i dont see the complexity for this level of pricing. Also why do they think its ok to increase by $6 every year ? At this price you are at Saxum and Monte bello future prices and i dont see it. In fact Saxum is 10% cheaper
First time making SVD list… 2 gap, 1 keefer…
but over $100 per bottle after tax/shipping… pass… I’ll take a Barolo/Burg at those prices. 
For me, the all in cost raises per bottle pricing to about $105.
I plan to curtail some of my wine purchasing and sadly, I think this will be one offering I will pass on. I hope that helps some first-timers to have wish lists granted.
I know KB provides some detailed data sheets on the wines but I have not seen production levels. Anybody know this years production levels?
According to the WS reviews in August:
Gap - 2481 cases
Kanzler - 665
Cohn - 60
Giusti - 949
Keefer - 1385
Koplen - 537
Gary - 493
Pisoni - 132
Rosella - 549
4 Barrel - 89
I ordered my allocation of eight because it’s a wine my wife never complains about but I get wistful remembering the days when I would buy this stuff in the 60s.
Private equity?
They’re evidently exploring what the market will bear . . . presumably with a long waiting list people passing will allow them to find out just how eager those others are. As much as I like the wines (while choking on the price) it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a lot of movement on the waitlist as others say “oh, now that I’m getting an allocation it’s $90++? thanks no”.
… and I wouldn’t blame them one bit.
Price increase is frustrating, and I wouldn’t consider Saxum pricing while making a KB buying decision. But Saxum is currently $98 plus tax, or roughly $103 all in. KB charges for shipping, but it still won’t exceed Saxum, at least not to the Midwest.
This was PE owned before the most recent transaction…
Wasn’t given chance to Wishlist the 4 Barrel 
First-time offer of 2 Gap’s, 3 Giusti, 1 Keefer. Even if I buy the entire allocation, I cannot wish-list other wines in the SV lineup.
I got my first time offer as well, and I’m on the fence. I have really scaled back purchases, essentially passing on every mailer this fall. But, I plan on getting back in the game next year and think I might want to have this as an option again when my purchases go back up. Decisions, decisions.
This is pretty much what has happened with most lists that have a significant wait in the last 10-15 years. By the time you get on, the prices have climbed to the point that there is not that much value, if any, in buying off the list.
KB still does sell off the list at a lower price than you can buy at retail. Low WS Pro for recent vintages of Keefer is $115, Cohn is $125, Gary’s is $120, Kanzler is $125, and of course that’s the low, so everyone else is higher. I’m not suggesting anyone ought to value them at those prices, or at $90, or at all, but KB is one of the relatively small number that still sells you the wines for meaningfully less than you could buy at retail, so I give them a little credit for that.
As far as price increases, they haven’t gone as nuts as it probably sounds. The 2007 Sonoma Coast and RRV pinots were $52, and the 2013s were $64. That’s about a 3.5% annual rate of increase (the rate is probably higher if you go back to the earliest years, though - I don’t know what the release prices were back then). Again, whether you think they’re worth $64, or $52, or anything, is totally up to you. But the price increases, while consequential, haven’t been too crazy.
A LWS in my area is selling 2013 single vineyard bottling so for $145 a bottle.
True, although different PE firms may have different strategies for generating returns.
I wonder how much it matters who the equity owners of the winery. You have wines that are “worth” (in the economist’s sense of worth - i.e. what buyers are willing to pay) $120-150 each, and you were selling them for $84 last fall.
I think probably any owners, whether it was Evil 1%er Wall Street Gordon Gecko types, or salt of the earth American Gothic mom and pop family who had toiled in those vineyards for three generations, would probably be raising the price. Don’t you think?
Anyone have an idea how long it takes to get offered Cohn or 4-Barrel?
This is my second or third time buying the SVDs, still no Cohn, Pisoni or 4-Barrel. I am buying about 10-12 bottles per allocation period.
You will never get offered the 4-Barrel. Seriously.
Tom
Ok I guess it must be that I wore my ruby red shoes today and clicked them just right but in my offer today, I got an allocation to buy one 4 Barrel. We’ve been on the list since about 2004 and have been mostly steady buyers.
An offering of a new release is a good opportunity to check on a prior vintage.
Opened a 2012 KB Keefer Ranch Pinot and shared with friends.
Pop and pour and served after dinner and without food.
Big, rich, ripe fruit. Red berries, ripe cherries and a spicy core that helps keep the wine focused. Moderate acidity. Enough acidity to help it from becoming candied. Guests enjoyed it. Well made, albeit in a riper, richer profile. The spice element keeps me going back to the glass for me. Quite enjoyable.