https://www.reddit.com/r/UndergroundCellars/comments/m203c4/sagestone_cellars_validity/
I bet most of these are just contract wines made with excess fruit.
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having worked on that side of the industry a bit, i can say that many of the brands you see are private labels produced for flash sale sites/ box store brands. if you ever get a daily offer of a cabernet brand (in particular) that sounds like it could be a real “boutique” winery but not quite, it’s from one of these businesses.
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Interesting that they are adjusting shipping costs - wonder why? And sucks for folks who were paying nearly twice that a few days ago . . .
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There is an update on their FAQ that “Note: During Stage 3 (currently active), shipping and fulfillment costs have been discounted.” though that seems to have not affected NorCal shipping too much (still $32 here, so maybe a $5-6 discount on the original cost?).
Still some interesting things left, especially from smaller labels and discontinued ventures. I found searching for specific appellations to be fairly helpful in narrowing things down to more interesting options. But unless they chop off another 50% or allow mixing and matching again (which is sounds like they’re not inclined to do), probably not going to pull the trigger on any more.
Shipping to my house has gone from $70 to $37. If they would drop the limits to 4 bottles I think I could pick up a few more cases of wines to try. At this point its tough for me to jump on 12 of wines I’ve never tried still.
Have both the Levo (Paso Robles) bottles (2017& 2018) currently in my cellar that are still available. Paid apprx $20 bottle on “Last Bottle” marathon a couple years back. Now $9.80 bottle??? These are very good daily drinkers or better! Even with $30 case shipping to Northern Cal. this is $12.50 bottle! If had room in cellar would put 3+ cases in the cart…
I would love to be able to mix and match @John_Peacock’s wines, but hard to justify a whole case of one.
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I hate to see so many wines from Korbin Kameron available. Really nice people who make excellent wines. If I didn’t already have plenty, I’d be all over the Merlots in particular.
I’ve bought a ton of Levo via LB and WTSO and they were all $29 (compared to winery price of $45-50), making the wines on this site and even better deal.
I was gonna get one of the cases of the Suzor PN, but hemmed and hawed over 2020 vintage…now gone. They have (had?) some interesting Valtellina stuff as well but nothing I was interested in taking a case flier on.
Ditto on the Valtellina. Tempted at the price offered but the producers they have show very mixed (to rather poor) notes on CT and this board.
@bddehn Those look good! I’d love to try some, just in 3-6 bottle increments instead of 12. A few others that I’ve noticed that are still out there:
The 2018 Meniketti Chard and Pinot Noir are from the same Monterey County vineyard as Wrath and from some info online it appears the winemaker might have been the same as Wrath’s. Cellartracker notes look good. In general, there seem to still be more than a few good remaining Chards and Pinots, as long as you’re willing to gamble on 5-6+ years ago vintages.
There’s also a Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling from the Tondre Grapefield from 2021 for under $4.50 a bottle before shipping. If you like sparkling Riesling, there’s a bunch as well from another Monterey area producer that I remember tasting once; it was good but not $42 a bottle good (though at <$10 I picked up a bunch of single bottles before it got down to cases only).
Would be curious about some of the remaining sparklers. Are these actually worth $44 or are they essentially 451 Cellars/Trader Joe’s Reserve-level quality and just overpriced to begin with.
Robert Foley Rose with a surprisingly low 12.8% @ ~$3 seemed like a good buy.
I bought a case of Cesarini Sforza Brut Rose for $108 delivered. Hard to tell exactly which variation this is, but have had some iteration of this before and enjoyed it. Worst case (assuming it actually gets to me) I’ll use it for French 75s and what not.
I can see why they would only want to sell by the case for ease of logistics, but if they allowed more mix/matching they might be selling more bottles.
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Grabbed a case each of the 2014 Bonavita Faro and the 2020 Grassi Sparkling Ribolla.
Chateau de Rouanne Vinsobres would have been my third case pick. It’s a St. Cosme side venture - drinks comparably to higher end Raustau or Cairanne and I was a happy buyer at $28 retail. Looks like they have a few cases left of this still.
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bonavita faro can be a really nice wine.
After checking the inventory levels of Trecini wines, I bought another case of their sauv blanc. I’ve had this wine a number of times and it always has a very rich flavor that appeals to my taste. The UC MSRP for it is $24 but the Trecini website is selling it for $18. I noticed that the UC Trecini Rockpile zin has a UC MSRP of $55 but the website is closing it out for $80! I was very tempted to take a chance on it.
Like others here though, I’m reluctant to buy a case of wine I’ve never tried, even if it has pretty good reviews. My plan is to frequently check this thread and the UC inventory to see if prices go down or we eventually can buy12 different wines.
Agree, good to track this thread and watch the price. It is useful when people call out wines they like as well.
I just bought the last dozen Levo grenache. They do a good job of big Paso reds, which are nice to have a stash of. Non wine drinkers really enjoy them as well. Its not an everyday thing, but sometimes you eant a delicious 15.5% red.
2014 Korbin Kameron Proprietary Kristin Red Blend
Anyone had this? Seems to get pretty good reviews. Still available on the winery web site for $90 and says it is “easily one of the best wines we have ever crafted.”
Can be had in a sixer at $25. Considering…