Yup. They just don’t do it for me any more, especially at current prices.
Is the gratis bottle of chard the same as the one I saw at retail for $79.99? Used to be on their list until they priced me out.
Cheers,
Curt
As you can see, Harris, Sea Smoke has never been part of the WB zeitgeist.
I think the Botella and Southing bottlings are very good wines almost every year (maybe 2006 is the partial exception), particularly if you can wait 3+ years after release to open them. With the exception of AFWEers, almost everyone you share them with will love the wines. I’ve never known of a single wine that is so well loved by non-geek friends as Sea Smoke.
While the Gratis outreach thing was odd, I never felt as though I was owed any free Sea Smoke chardonnay, or that I’m any worse off just because I know they gave some to other people. Actually, there were several years earlier on when I was buying from them that they did surprise me with a free bottle of Gratis, and that was cool, so I have even less reason to be upset. But I can see how others feel differently.
I agree with everything Chris said. I’d put myself in the Put-off Camp rather than upset. I don’t particularly even want a free bottle, it’s just the idea that they value old customers and try to incent them back, while not providing that same show of good faith to current customers. Kind of a head scratcher and made me decide to pass on this offer.
Funny since they cut Foxen off they should have a bit more fruit.
I am with Jeb as I was not mad or expecting any free bottle. Its just the way it went down.
On the flip side, Katie from Sea Smoke reached out to me today after seeing the board. I appreciate her doing this and giving me some incite into trying to get some past buyers back that use to buy large allocations. I think this shows some great customer service on her part to contact me.
Good to here, Katie has always been very helpful any time a issue came up for me.
Sounds to me like Jerry got screwed big time. Not such great customer service, in fact, just the opposite.
And they’ve planted quite a few more acres over the past few years - and I have to believe some of those are coming into production this year (or have already done so) . . .
I think this is the important part. You might get plenty more responses about why certain people don’t buy, but I think it would make sense to buy some bottles from this offering and reacquaint yourself with the wines. I’m sure your own feedback will be the best you can get. Maybe you can ask for suggestions of more easily found alternatives and do some comparisons to see if you think it’s worth staying on the list.
Should certainly revisit. I feel the wines are a bit different under the direction of Victor Gallegos. The wines have been a bit dialed back. That, coupled with a bit of vine age and crop balance- they’re at least a bit more interesting…
Trevor,
I could be mistaken, but I believe Victor has been there for a long time - perhaps since the beginning? Don Schroeder ‘officially’ took over the winemaking duties a few years back - though I know Victor certainly ‘guides’ things . . .
Just another tidbit - saw on their website that they are now biodynamically farming as of 2013. Interesting . . .
Cheers
I wasn’t sure when the last time he had a bottle. I was not a huge fan of the earlier wines- a 2010 I popped not too long ago in a competitive tasting was a greater improvement IMHO…