Brian… I’m assuming “we” = Bell Hill Vineyard, Waikari, NZ? Most here probably don’t know it or about the “high end” Pinot Noir production.
It’s OK to add more info in your profile and signature line.
RT
As a tourist in London I haven’t noticed especially low prices on wine (looking in major retail shops). Seems like the reality of actually buying in Europe and getting excellent deals would be a bit more complex. You’d need to develop relationships with the kinds of sellers that work with high end wine/consumers. You’d have to deal with complexities of shipping/storage in bond. Almost certainly you’d have to make spend commitments that are pretty uncommon in the US.
I have dug into this more than a few times and decided it isn’t worth it. E.g. in order to buy 3 Keller GGs (at half or less US prices) I had to also buy 20-30 other bottles of German Riesling. And not all Prüm/Willi Schaefer/Dönnhoff/etc. So: pass.
Italy, especially Tuscany, seems to be exceptional on this front. Go visit your favorite wineries, fill out a simple form, hand over your credit card, and the wine appears in the US some months later. I really enjoyed paying $90 (all in, including shipping) for 2013 Fuligni Riserva. I can probably (haven’t tried yet) order future vintages directly without visiting in person if I want.
If you love Chianti/Brunello and want to spend a few thousand $$ traveling to Italy you can probably lock in hundreds of dollars of annual savings ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
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Retail is more or less dead in Europe for fine wine.
There are of course some great exceptions but it’s still true.
Almost all transactions are online somehow.
You won’t walk into a London store and buy a single bottle of this for $120.