There are lists that I can’t ever see dropping and there have been lists I’ve dropped after an allocation or two. The decision has never been a tough one in either direction.
If I have signed up for the wait list, I will always end up buying once or twice. However, it’s not rare that by the time the next allocations come out, I haven’t tried much (if any) of the wine that has already been delivered to me. So I do my best to really find out if I want to support the people behind the wine or not.
A recent trip to Napa really highlighted this for me - our visit to Realm blew us away in terms of what they were all about and how they treated us. Being as excited to get to know us as they were in sharing their story was completely unique in all our experiences. One visit made me regret being just an occasional secondary market buyer and not a bigger supporter of the brand. On the other hand, a visit to a quite famous chard/pinot producer in Sonoma did the opposite. It’s hard to hear you’re not an important buyer if you haven’t been with them for 20 years - especially when you’re just 34 yrs old today.
If I had one bit of advice to give to wineries it would be to reconsider how you perform private tastings. Spend at least half of the visit getting to know your customer. If you’re just regurgitating the same commercial over and over, you’re wasting your time - I can buy wine to try and read your website on my own time. Consumers can buy good wine from infinite sources - but can only buy from so many sources where they have some type of personal connection. Relationship based selling works for all other luxury items, it should work just the same for fine wine.
I’m cutting lists but if you live in Texas, you have VERY limited options when it comes to retail, auctions, and access to old world wines. Even if I can find something locally, it’s typically marked up to the point it’s a matter of principle that I won’t buy. If I lived in Cali or other states that were more friendly, it would be a whole different ball game.
OK I admit that I am on too many lists, especially since my palate mostly leans to the old world.
I really like the wines and the people I am supporting on lists so I don’t foresee dropping them.
Realm tomorrow.
I’ve found that most of the wineries are understanding about it if you ask to skip an offering; I’ve emailed a number to tell them I wanted to skip a turn and they were always cool about it.
Many have a stated policy you can rely on (e.g. you only get dropped if you don’t purchase from X consecutive offerings - and then they don’t necessarily drop you after that anyways).
It might be a good intermediate step for you, to give your budget a rest and allow you to diversify a bit more. Then you might be more happy to go back, or maybe realize you’re fine without staying on.
Just a suggestion. I’m sure it’s not true for every list (KB for example is one I’m not sure of), but it seems to be okay for most of them.
I don’t understand how you would end up on a list and not want to buy the wine - isn’t that the reason you signed up? As long as I continue to enjoy the wine and can buy what I want in the quantities I want (no minimum) I think it is a great deal - especially for wine like Carlisle that is offered at a discount. I like to see itemized tax and shipping, but I always split it up evenly to all bottles to get the bottom line for each bottle - if I like the wine and I’m not feeling gouged, I’m going to buy - otherwise I drop off the list. I’ve heard of lists (Cayuse?) that initially offer you only one or two bottlings and slowly add other bottlings as the years go by. Now that would be a real trap - I probably would never get started if that were the case. A lot of the prices for lists that I am on have continued to creep up and I will unfortunately have to drop a few in the next couple of years - I think it will be sad, but certainly not liberating.
I find that I gravitate more towards curated offers than lists, allowing me to be more selective, and giving me the liberating feeling of saying no without being dropped: this is Martin Steinley, Rob Panzer/Down to Earth, Garagiste, Lyle Fass, Selection Massale, Chambers St.
I missed a lot of lists, being late to the game.that now would eat up income like necrotizing fasciitis eats flesh, from Big Cabs to SQN and Cayuse.
The few lists I’m on are either loyalty lists I don’t begrudge or lists I remain excited about.
I feel/ worry that, if my tastes change and I suddenly want to buy up 2012 Caymus SS, I would have a lot of trouble selling my geeky wines. Will just have to chug them.
I feel exactly this way - if I don’t buy, I’ll regret it. I just went back to look at CT. I am on no less than 25 lists - only one is a club - and I buy something from most of them. Today was KB. I think tomorrow is Realm and next week is Saxum. I have no room in my cellar.
I swore I was going to cut back but since January I’ve bought from 10 lists!
2015 Wines
Andermily (11/26/14)
Aubert (1/13/15)
Dirty & Rowdy (1/15/15)
Schrader (1/20/15)
Carlisle (1/21/15)
Quilceda Creek (1/22/15)
Turley (1/26/15)
Black Cat (1/2715) Berserker day buy, but will buy from list
Rhys (1/27/15)
Kosta Browne (2/1/15)
I’m not anti-list. What’s frustrating is when I run into bundling or feeling compelled to buy a certain amount to get access to better wines. That said, it’s a wine maker’s prerogative to sell their best wines to their best customers. It is what it is…
Great thread. I’ve had that trapped feeling for the past year but in that time have dropped off 15-20 lists. Whoever said it is liberating is spot on. I am dropping off almost every list I’m on except for maybe five. Most of my purchases now are old world; I’ve found that I’ve had a palate shift but still enjoy some new world juice I have. However, I will be selling off 300-400 bottles in the future; all CA and most of it PN.
I do not feel trapped, if I don’t want to buy that release or don’t have the money, I just pass on it or offer it on CC. Heck, I really wanted to order the last Sandlands release but passed it on to some other lucky soul. I have been buying more from Internet retail lately and it includes both new and old world. There are only a few wines out there that I can’t get retail but being on the list makes it a lot easier.
I am trying to cut back my list buying just so I can put more money towards Old World wines or wines that I can get at retail just a couple of bottles at a time rather than buying six or 12. It is really more about exploring new areas and grapes though than feeling trapped. That is one great thing about Sandlands, which I will not pass on again.
I spent 7 years on the wait list for Rochioli. That always plays on my mind when their offers come around. I buy, even though they’re bloody expensive, I have to pay sales tax (in state), and the shipping is ridiculously pricey.
I will drop them… after the single vineyard pinot release this Fall…
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