Seamus Campbell 
Portland, Oregon
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 420
 | | 01-21-2008 07:26 PM |
| What's the story with this?
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Eric White
San Ramon, CA
Advanced Sommelier
Posts: 9546
| | 01-21-2008 08:19 PM |
| ??? | | | 2008: the end of an error | |
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kpak
Alaska
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3112
| | 01-21-2008 08:24 PM |
| "What's the story with this?"
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You tell us... | | | In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is
.ps - friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon. | |
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Seamus Campbell
Portland, Oregon
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 420
| | 01-21-2008 08:40 PM |
| There's an entry for it in CT, with a reasonably authentic looking label image.
I'm guessing a Merlot or a Right Bank blend of the excess blending grapes... | | | |
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kpak
Alaska
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3112
| | 01-21-2008 10:32 PM |
| So there is... and this one as well.  http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=466916 | | | In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is
.ps - friends don't let friends eat farmed salmon. | |
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Drew
Sammamish, WA
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3330
| | 01-22-2008 12:44 AM |
| Premiere Napa Valley is an auction for ITB types. | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts: 4920
| | 01-22-2008 12:53 AM |
| Ah, the evil flip side of Cellar Tracker. The very best blend of the 05 did not use all the Franc, Merlot or Petit Verdot and none of the press Cab. As you would expect, out main blend will always be the very best we can do -- even if it means a lot of left over wine. Mia, whose blending skills are legendary, came up with another blend using some (but not all) of the remaining juice. It has the same flavor profile, but will drink very early and probably not keep quite as long. In short, the perfect wine for a restaurant. And, that is what it will be. I brought home a case to monitor its progress and put in in CT so I can remember where it is.
In February, the Napa Valley Vintners hold an event for the trade. Vintners are encouraged to make a special blend for that event and donate (not my favorite word) 5 or 10 cases. Members of the trade get to taste the blends from barrel and bid on the entire lot (in our case, 5 cases). They get a special label (pictured above) and will be delivered to the winning bidder after some bottle aging. Again, they are in my cellar, so I used CT to remember where they are.
You guys are just too quick for me. | | | |
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Jeremy
Grape Truck Driver
Posts: 44
| | 01-22-2008 02:33 PM |
| Some wine shops bid on the wine with resale in mind. The Auction results and purchasers names are published. Usually there is a link. Usually the wine price is HIGH too. lol
http://www.napavintners.com/trade/pnv_wine_2007_buyers.asp
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kimber
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1257
| | 01-22-2008 07:54 PM |
| Bob, any significance behind the green dot? | | | |
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts: 4920
| | 01-22-2008 10:21 PM |
| Posted By kimber on 01/22/2008 7:54 PM
Bob, any significance behind the green dot? Got me. the Napa Valley Vintners association invents these labels and they are the same for everyone (the design, that is). Note that we were lot 179 last year. That meant quite a lot of sitting around and waiting. Also, many of the bidders come with a budget and bid on wines that they like until the budget is gone. As you might imagine, there weren't a lot of bidders left when we finally came up. (I don't remember exactly, but there were something like 185 lots total - Anomaly was after us). The order is, in theory, random, but they try to balance things out. I just looked and we are Lot 6 this year. Yea! | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
VinoCellar.com Extraordinaire
Posts: 30914
| | 01-27-2008 06:19 PM |
| Here's my question...
Is there a market for a lower-priced "not as good" bottle of Bressler (be blunt)?
re: price... how much less than the "good stuff" should it be priced?
Is there a market for a Bressler Merlot (be blunt)?
How much would you be willing to pay for a "quality" Merlot?
Hit me Bros!
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My answers...
I have absolutely no desire for a second not-as-good Cab from anyone. Granted I am not really a Cab drinker any more but when I was I thought it just wasn't worth drinking if it wasn't the "best".
Merlot? I am liking Merlot more and more. Have you tasted the '01 Switchback Merlot? IMO it is an absolute killer bottle of wine. Yum. Knowing Bob's Cabs I would love to have a couple bottles of a Bressler Merlot. I would leave the price up to Bob. I know that he would be very fair. As a matter of fact I would be excited if he thought it was good enough to even charge more for it than the Cab. Besides I always thought that Bob's wines are under-priced!
Let me say this about the Pinot... If anyone doesn't want theirs I would like to buy it and I'd give one a $10 premium! The one bottle I've had was THAT good!!!
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Bob Bressler
Napa Valley
Wine Lover
Posts: 4920
| | 01-27-2008 06:35 PM |
| Ah, the old second label dilemma. The 2004 Bressler is a big wine, as are many of the other better 04 Napa cabs. Thank you mother nature. Good for us wine lovers - not so good for restaurants who want a pop and pour wine that still tastes good. By using our Press Cab, we got a lot of backbone in the Yong Vines, but blending it with Franc and Merlot makes it very approachable. Also, and this is one it took me a little while to appreciate, by releasing only to Restaurants means that I don't have to publish a "Retail Price" for the wine - just an FOB distributor price. That winds up giving the Restaurant a lot more flexability as to where to position the wine on their lists. At some offline in the fall I'll open some and you guys can judge for yourselves. | | | |
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scottj
Houston, TX
Barrel Filler
Posts: 1109
| | 01-28-2008 06:20 AM |
| Posted By Bob Bressler on 01/27/2008 6:35 PM That winds up giving the Restaurant a lot more flexability as to where to position the wine on their lists. Bob, any concern that restaurants will list and price this wine as if it was the "regular" Bressler ? I've seen this occasionally with wines such as the Ch. Montelena Napa Cabernet or their old Calistoga Cuvee. The wine list shows "Estate" and the price is well into 3 digits, but it's the Napa that's presented. Maybe you can't blame the restaurant for seeking a 6-8X markup on their wine purchases ? | | | |
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JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts: 5211
| | 01-28-2008 09:22 AM |
| Or perhaps worse yet. Having a restaurant customer rejoice over the opportunity to try a wine s/he has heard so much about, only to conclude that the hype was overblown and the wine "ain't all that". Isn't one of the big benefits of restaurant placement to expose newcomers to the wine? If so, do you want their first experience with the brand name to be "pretty good" as opposed to "great"? Given the effort that goes into any 'second bottling', would it be better to simply sell the juice? Let the folks at Bounty Hunter put their name on it and take their chances? | | | Beta testing a new signature. | |
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tanglenet
Oakland, California
Wine Bottler
Posts: 3376
| | 01-28-2008 10:42 AM |
| Posted By JimmyV on 01/28/2008 9:22 AM Given the effort that goes into any 'second bottling', would it be better to simply sell the juice? Let the folks at Bounty Hunter put their name on it and take their chances? TYI, I was surprised to see WS scores on 3 04 Bounty Hunter wines at 92, 94 and 95. Retail price was listed at $100 for each bottle. All from Beckstoffer. | | | TN posted on Cellartracker"
I drink no more than a sponge." François Rabelais | |
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jason
Napa Valley
Wine Addict
Posts: 6899
| | 01-28-2008 11:42 AM |
| I would bet that just like his flagship cab. that Bob will not be trying to place this in any and every restaurant he can. I am sure that the places that do pick up this wine will for one probably already have the other wine, and will have someone running the beverage program smart enough to make sure the wines are differentiated on the wine list. | | | |
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Daniel Bailey
Barrel Racker
Posts: 1534
| | 01-28-2008 05:13 PM |
| Actually this wine isn't placed on any restaurant wine list by Bob. Just like the wine in question, alll Premiere Napa Valley wines are sold at auction in one lot (5, 10, or 20 cases generally) to one ITB purchaser. Could be a restaurant, private club, wine retailer, etc. The winery does not have any way of directing to whom the lot is sold although some lots do tend to end up being purchased by the same bidder year after year. One can go to the Premier Napa Valley website by the Napa Valley Vintners to see what is on sale for 2008 and where prior auction years lots ended up. As it turns out Capitol Cellars bought both last years Jones Family lot and Bressler lot. | | | |
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Seamus Campbell
Portland, Oregon
Grape Fermenter
Posts: 420
| | 01-28-2008 05:44 PM |
| We're talking about the "Young Vines" cuvee vis restaurant placement, not the Premiere lot. | | | |
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David Niederauer
Los Gatos, CA
VinoCellar.com Extraordinaire
Posts: 30914
| | 01-31-2008 08:58 PM |
| Posted By Seamus Campbell on 01/28/2008 5:44 PM
We're talking about the "Young Vines" cuvee vis restaurant placement, not the Premiere lot. Yes, that's what we are all talking about (at least the way I read it). The "Young Vines" is the "Premiere" lot.
The "Young Vines" was a barrel specifically made for the "Premiere Napa Valley Auction". They ask the vintners to make up something "special" (not nescessarily "better") than their "regular" bottling. If the lot is purchased by a restauranteur it will probably end up on their wine list. It would seem to me that anyone who knew anything about Bressler Wines in the first place would recognize the fact that the term "Young Vines" would be a different bottling than the regular bottling. At least that is what I understand it to be.
Young Vines is to Bressler what The Maiden is to Harlan,
the Napa Valley is to Maya, The Pride is to Pride Reserve.
I don't know if you like the idea of a second label or not. My strictly hypothetical question is... if Bressler made a "second label" that wasn't the "best" blend but still a very good blend and it sold for less money... do you think the wine would sell? I am also curious (still completely hypothetical) if a Bressler Merlot was available would you be tempted to buy it or are you in Mile's camp (Sideways).
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jason
Napa Valley
Wine Addict
Posts: 6899
| | 01-31-2008 09:09 PM |
| Bob,
On top of this don't you have a wine that is a higher percentage Merlot wine that will be for on-premise only? | | | |
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