JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5015
 | | 01/17/2003 3:19 PM |
| I couldn't help noticing the prices listed in the WS Weekly for the new crop of Bordeaux that was just rated:
Petrus-$1,800
Ausone-$650
Lafleur (Hall of Fame puckster AND a winery owner...wow!)-$425
Haut-Brion-$425
Chevel-Blanc-$650
Lafite-$400
Latour-$475
just to name a few. Sort of makes the discussions of overpriced Cal. Cabs irrelevant. (That's not to say that these wines aren't better than a Cinq Cepages, but $650 v. $75??)
Anyway, my question is simple. Never having dabbled in futures myself, I was wondering if those of you who do pay anywhere near these prices when you buy your allotment, or do you get a decent discount off these numbers? | |
Beta testing a new signature. | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 01/17/2003 3:27 PM |
| | One can generally do better than WS prices. WS even admitted same in their recent newsletter. Right now, you can still buy many of the wines WS is touting for considerably less from certain retailers. The key phrase in the foregoing sentence is "right now". For example, I just bought Lafite 750s for $295 and most of the others I have seen cost far less than the WS price. | | | |
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JimmyV
Central Connecticut
Wine Connoisseur
Posts:5015
| | 01/17/2003 3:42 PM |
| Yes. I should have known that the WS price could be beaten. The problem is, where I live, most merchants seem to take these prices as gospel, and price accordingly. Just checked Lafite on Wine Searcher, and indeed, it can be had for less than $450. Lowest price was K & L in your neck of the woods for $319. But by comparison Zachy's (good inventory, poor pricing, IMHO) have it for almost $100 more, at $410. And those scoundrels at Pops are asking $470.42. (As if that extra $0.42 makes a difference on their balance sheets. )
So I'll revise my question. How do futures prices compare with the $295 that Jones paid, or the $310 that K & L is now charging? And this would go for all of the wines, not just the Lafite. Where do futures prices fit in compared to retailers selling at a fair price? | |
Beta testing a new signature. | |
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Winetex
Austin, Texas
Master of Wine
Posts:10573
| | 01/17/2003 4:02 PM |
| My Lafite 2000 futures per bottle price is $275. This was a first offering of futures. Subsequent offerings were higher in price so I don't know what this particular wine ended up at before they sold out.
Futures can be tricky but you can end up with a better price through a reputable dealer.
Personally I'm waiting for the fallout when people don't receive the 2000 Bordeaux futures that they ordered. I believe that some dealers oversold and won't actually take delivery. | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 01/17/2003 4:07 PM |
| Can you say "breach of contract".
Once, I bought futures of various 1990 Domaine Leroys. The retailer's supplier in France went belly up and as such the retailer did not get the wines that I had bought. In order to comply with the futures contract, the retailer purchased the wines at auction and then delivered them to me. | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 01/17/2003 4:30 PM |
| | most of these wines can still be bought for considerably less money. you need to check around and find a REPUTABLE retailer. once parker's ratings are out, all bets are off. | | | |
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Joseph Bembry
Wine Lover
Posts:4857
| | 01/17/2003 7:06 PM |
| Where can I find some Lynch Bages for less than $100? Anyone? I'm interested in that wine, Graud Larose and Branaire. Suggestions? Who are these reputable retailers?
jb | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 01/17/2003 7:13 PM |
| Guy Lafleur is now a Wine-owner? And, the bottle is $425.00? WOW is right. What does he know about Wine? Or, they are just using his name?
Hey, if the Wine is even 1/2 as good as he was. That will be a Great bottle of Wine. | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 01/17/2003 7:18 PM |
| | lcc-guy was using their name. | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 01/17/2003 7:19 PM |
| | jb-i have sent you a pm. | | | |
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Blair Ridley
Wine Labeler
Posts:3980
| | 01/17/2003 7:19 PM |
| j b - You've got time on the Branaire. It really hasn't hit full swing yet. I've only heard of it in one place - the place where ojeffso got his bottle.
It's on my buy list as well - so let's attack this one together! | | | |
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ojeffso
warren, new jersey
Wine Lover
Posts:4877
| | 01/17/2003 7:30 PM |
| | unfortunately, the current futures price is up to $480 a case. | | | |
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love_cab_chard
Master of Wine
Posts:12352
| | 01/17/2003 7:43 PM |
| | I am interested in that 1 also (Branaire). | | | |
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JonesWineNo1
Sommelier
Posts:8568
| | 01/17/2003 7:56 PM |
| | KL has it for $83 a bottle JB - the Lynch Bages that is. | | | |
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GATC
Barrel Sampler
Posts:2420
| | 01/19/2003 7:33 AM |
| That's not too bad a price for the Lynch Bages. The futures prices I paid were:
Lynch Bages $78.99
Pichon Baron $64.99
Pichon Lalande $79.99
Leoville Barton $109.99
Moulin-St George $24.99
Bernadotte $11.99
Marjosse $6.99
I'm sure others did better since most of the wines I wanted were sold out in the first round.
WS prices listed are generally high estimates. I also found some of the WA prices for the 2001 German rieslings to be much higher than I paid.
Jones, don't remind me about breach of contract. I'll never recover from High Times in Costa Mesa charging my card for 2 cases of 2001 Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese** and I only got 2 bottles. Reversing the charges just after it got high ratings from WA leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. | | | |
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