Thanks for jumping on here and for your transparency. It’s refreshing to see folks like you on here explaining why you do what you do every step of the way.
The pricing of fruit certainly getting crazy up there - and one might think that the bubble must burst at some time . . . but folks have been saying that for a long time. As long as consumers are willing to pay, wineries will continue to be able to offer their wines at these prices - and vineyards will be able to continue to charge the prices that they do.
How challenging is the labor shortage up there and what are expectations for this coming harvest? That might start changing things as more and more vineyards are going to have to do more machine work in the vineyard versus hand labor, no?
Keep on doing what you’re doing and I’m sure your customers will support and appreciate it.
I just wanna point out that I also do not have hostage wines, as this is the only wine I make. If people would factor what wines they sometimes feel they must buy in order to get the wines they really want into the average price, prices are even higher for some wines that they seem.
Also, the average buyer the last few years has purchased about 7 bottles per purchase for my wine. So all in, last year they were spending about $1175 per order and this year it is about $1300. That qualifies as a lot… and then a little more than a lot. But not a crazy increase in price for the average buyer I have. It seems like a harder pill to swallow at 3 bottles, where it goes from $450 to $525 before tax and shipping. It just feels different at 3 bottles.
Roy I apologize for drifting this thread away from your wine. I’ve never tried it, but hope to in the near future. And I truly hope that your mailing list grows and your passion is rewarded for a long time to come, you seem like an incredibly honest and transparent winemaker and business person.
Roy is as transparent as it gets for folks in the wine industry, at least from when we met for a tasting, and his videos/blogs/etc. I have no doubt he will continue to thrive with a loyal following. Relative to other Napa wines, $125 was a bargain, $175 seems pretty normal.
I don’t think that’s fair. Larry (and anyone) should be entitled to their view/opinion, and be able to post it here. This isn’t a cheer squad, it’s a wine discussion board. We don’t have to all have the same opinion in order to post.
+1 would agree with this completely. Did a lot of Napa cults go bankrupt during the last recession? I don’t believe so, but maybe someone knows more about this…
I don’t even look to Napa anymore for wines. What’s the point? Find a wine you like and you can afford maybe two? Luckily, lots of other regions/wines that I can afford to drink on more than an annual basis.
Wine inflation and pricing in Napa is higher than I would like but it does not compare to some of the ridiculous increases in DRC etc
The worst area for this is Hifi, an absolute minefield of bullshit and snake oil salesman a few years ago i got into trouble ( shocker i know ) for arguing on the Stereophile frum about the Lars amplifier which sold for $100,000 ( not a typo ) the main electronic component of which could be purchased for around $9. I got attacked because i did not see the intrinsic value of fancy packaging and the tuning required to make a $9 part sound like $100K part At least Roy is increasing cost primarily due to real world fruit costs, unless of course hes really using $3 box wine for his fruit !!!
This is a direct quote from the MB Collector blurb:
Monte Bello Collector members receive an automatic, recurring futures reservation for our renowned flagship wine, the Monte Bello, as well as our estate bottlings, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Merlot, and Estate Chardonnay, from the Monte Bello vineyard.
I assure you, for the two years I’ve been buying as a member of this club, I’ve had to buy estate wines too. Maybe it is not a component of your membership, but it certainly is now.
This did indeed change for new MB collector memberships as of a couple years ago or so. I’m in that category. The estate wine is automatically dispatched, no choice overtly mentioned as for declining it. For those that joined the MB collector list earlier, I believe it continues to be opt-in.
I am still waiting for someone to do what sports owners are doing with season tickets… have a $500 “personal license fee” just to have the “right” to purchase a cult wine. LOL.
Going from $125 to $175 in just two years is a fairly steep jump, and understandably some people will jump ship. As a boutique winemaker you do not want turnover, only loyalty, which I am sure Roy has in earnest. Fruit costs are ridiculously high! The old time “Estates” have a clear advantage by not having to purchase fruit from growers such as Beckstoffer’s and the like.
I think this may depend on when you signed up. I have bought Monte Bello futures every year for a number of years, and have never bought anything else direct. The rules may have changed recently for new “members.”
Re: MB, I joined during the bundling phase, and after a year or two of that, called Ridge and they eliminated the bundling requirement. Suggest giving them a call. The part that aggravated me the most was that they would not bundle the shipping also, which with 2 separate charges for shipping just fried my patience.
Ive often thought that there is a business to be created of selling allocation spots. I think that a spot of a great list like SE or Macdonald could easily sell for several thousand dollars, second tier like Cayuse, Saxum, SQN etc would sell for at least $1000, even the likes of Bedrock and Carlisle etc would be $100’s
Of course im pretty sure this idea would piss off the wineries immensley which is why its not been done.
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