Hi,

As some of you may be aware (from the '70 Penfolds St. Henri tasting note), I'm fairly new to the purchasing and tasting of wines.

Would just like to get some feedback on experiences some people have had with price comparisons between cellar door sales and retail sales.

This question comes as a result of two recent trips to Margaret River and Pemberton, where some bottles of wine purchased were around 20% higher in price from the cellar door than the same wine purchased from a standard retail liquor outlet (unfortunately this was discovered after I purchased the wine - from the cellar door).

Basically I would like to know if many people have experienced the same.

I am aware that the wineries have to make a living and to recoup the cost of the bottles used for tastings, but surely a simple charge for tastings would be preferable to being charged the price for an average tasting for each bottle you buy.

Cheers

Stove




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The main source of revenue for most producers is from distributors/retailers and the maker is commited not to compete with those price structures.
Most cellar doors for these reasons will only sell at what is considered to be the "recommended retail price" which of course
is most often undercut particularly by the discount chains.The message is don't buy at the source (unless the wine is rare and difficult to source elsewhere)
Cheers!!!



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Hi Stove,
You are talking about an extremely variable issue. In general, my experience is that there are many CDs , particularly in the Clare and McLaren Vale, where the prices are either lower or very competitive with retail outlets RRP.
At the same time, these tend to be the ones that are smaller and the CD is staffed by the winemaker or his family and I guess they are selling at wholesale or a bit above and genuinely cutting out the middleman. The bigger the winery, the more touristy it is and the more paid staff they've got the more likely it is that the prices are around normal RRP. If you are talking about a large, national group and a large-volume wine which is often "deep-specialled" such as Wynns or Ingolby shiraz, the chances of it being a bad buy at CD are much higher.
The joy in CD purchases is with the smaller wineries, talking to the winemaker, finding hard to obtain wines and bin-ends and trying before you buy.
Lastly...the closer you are to major city tourist centres, the less likely you are to get a good deal!!
Cheers,
Martin.



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Agree with the above answers.

Wineries often have no control over store pricing other than to set a RRP.

Some stores will take near losses on high volume brands to get people in the door to buy other stuff.

Don't forget the all round experience you get at Cellar Door - tasting, learning about the wine before you buy, meeting the makers. If you are in a touristy area such as Margaret River then you may also enjoy the ambience, environment, some local art on display, lovely food, rarer releases, back-vintage releases, etc...

I'm sure most wineries are quite happy for you to purchase from a store instead (if you find it cheaper and more convenient).

Be careful with the word "con".

Jill



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Yes, apologies for the usage of "con"

no offence intended

Cheers

Stove



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Everybody has about summed it up, but in the interests of participation, I'll put in my two bob's worth.

I love the overall experience of cellar door: the smells, the peeks into the making and loading areas, sometimes the desperation of the CD staff on a slow day, always the pleasant chat, banter and willingness to educate. Most of all, I love buying a wine at the CD that I can't get in a shop - and that's all I'll ever buy. And that leaves me with plenty of scope, because in Canberra we rarely have access to the fruits of the smaller wineries.



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Try the Coonarwarra next time. All the Cd's were below a competitive bottle shop price, including Wynn's John riddoch and Micheal shiraz, and Katnook cab sav



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