For The Love Of Port

The Majestic Liquor Stores are having a 3 day sale here in Fort Worth , Texas.
While this could be a commerce corner topic, I start this thread on a philsophical and nostalgic note.

I have bought a lot of fine port from these folks, including my 1963 and 1970 Berry Bros Graham's.

This fine chain was once owned by the Leggett Family who sold out after some deaths in the family. The Leggetts brought many high end fine wines into our market and we are grateful. This may be an end of an era and although a great windfall for wine local wine lovers, I don't know what it means for accessibilty for fine wines here in the future.
I say that because I believe they are selling many wines below cost . That can't happen indefinitely.

It may be that we will buy our ports on line in the future instead of in retail stores.

I certainly can't quarrel with the new owners that have a lot of fine wine in a climate controlled warehouse that is tying up capital and not selling.
We hope this is not the end of their bringing in the finer wines, but they have to make a profit.

I told Roy in a PM that I don't think this group ships. I think this is all in store sales.

The sale list is 13 single pages about 700 wines. It has caused quite a frenzy here in Fort Worth and Dallas. Rumor has it that in their Dallas stores , 88 Salon is going for under $40.

In port, the stand outs were Dow 66 at $60. Fonseca and Taylor 1970 for $99. The Taylor NV is $9.99. 97 Ferreira is $30.

In clarets, Ducru B and Cos'd'Estournel 98 are $30.

These are just a few examples.

They are allowing customers to reserve and set back wines that can't be sold until Thursday March 16 . These set asides in advance have caused a lot of " traffic" inside the stores and some jockeying for position to get certain wines. The sale ends Sat March 18.

It has caused a bit of a frenzy here. I went to a store last night and a guy was looking at the sale list talking on a cell phone asking someone to look up the Parker ratings.
I think at 10 AM tomorrow, when the doors open, the stores will be all be madhouses.

I am adding some fine ports to the collection, but when a merchant has to sell below cost to move the merchandise, it may be good in the short run but not so good in the long run.

I'm not in expert in shipping, but I think you can call Fed Ex or UPS service to pick up a package for you. So you put aside some bottles and the shipper does the rest. Packaging could be a problem though.

The legalities of shipping wine from Texas to other states can be monumental, Frederick. Prohibition still exists here in the USA. Texas is crazier than most states though, as on a county by county basis they are either "dry" or not.

The crazy sale ended yesterday. I bought a case of Taylor LBV 2000 at $9.94 / bottle.
The US importer of Thienot is a friend of mine, based here in Fort Worth. He was not happy to hear that the Stanislaus 96 was selling in this sale at $29.95 a regualr retail of $52.95. The wholesalers and inprters really don't like it when their products are dumped.

Thanks for the tip on this sale Richard. I was able to secure a bottle of 1970 Warre's for $80. The kicker was that my brother in law lives in Dallas and can pick it up for me.

The sale was extended today. Saturday I picked up 3 more bottles of Taylor and and 1 more Fonseca 70's at $99 each. I also grabbed some Vesuvio 2000 for $49.
There is still a lot of port and other wine to be had.

No one has yet responded to my ethical rhetorical questions about sales like these.

Do you or they have a sale list?

The list was awkward and lengthy , in alphabetical order for several hundred wines, single spaced. It was not placed on PDF or Zip for easy e-mailing. The, Cockburn, Croft and Dow were on page one or two and the rest, Fonseca, Taylor, Sandeman, Warre etc were scattered throughout the 13 page list among the Cali Cab, Champagne, Bourdeaux, etc.

Best to call Zack, at 817-731-0634 and ask about specific ports. He can fax a list.
I really did not intend for this to turn into a Commercial Corner topic.

I invite comment about the future of purchasing wines at retail stores and if on-line will replace the wine reps and consultants. Are wine retail stores on the way out, etc.?
I think this retail group should think more abot on-line sales, for example.

Richard

I'll respond to the invitation to talk about the impact of "dumping sales" on availability of wine. I might even be able to use myself and my behaviour as an illustration of how I see things are changing.

20 years ago, I used to visit a number of local wine retailers as I came home from work and buy a lot of my wine as one or two bottles at a time from the selection that was in store. Gradually, either I started to trade up and look for better wines or the stock carried by the stores began to become more restricted - aimed towards the lower end of the market. Perhaps this was the influence of the UK supermarkets with their high volume, low price, limited range philosophy.

So I discovered the wonderful world of the specialist wine merchants. These guys had their price lists that they would post out to you 2-3 times per year and had maybe one or two shops around the UK. The range of wines was much better than the wine stores and far superior to the supermarkets and my buying changed to buy mostly from the mail-order wine merchants. At one point I was on the mailing list for close to twenty merchants and probably actively bought from over a dozen of them.

Occasionally, one of the merchants would go bust and it was always a concern that my hard-earned money would go with them, but there were ways that you could minimise your risk. If one of the merchants did go bust then it seemed that all their stock was bought from the receiver by another merchant and things continued on. The names and numbers of mail-order wine merchants went up and down, but the wine was always available. The keys to their success were their list and their ability to ship the wine to you without it being damaged.

As technology moved in, many of these folks put their lists on the web and replaced the printed list with a web-based ordering system. The range is still there and the ability to deliver the wine is still critical, but the web has meant that my choice of suppliers has increased dramatically.

So, I guess that what I am saying is that my experience would mean that I would expect that there will always be times when a retailer makes a decision to change the product lines he offers and dumps product at cost or less. My view is to grab the opportunity to stock up the cellar. You may lose the convenience of having this store available to you in the future, but there are plenty of people looking to provide you with your wine choice and to take your money. There may be a temporary "vacuum" in local merchants, but as soon as the merchants in the immediate area realise what is happening and that there is a gap for them in the market, then they will step in to take advantage of the gap.

Alex

A thoughtful reply, Alex. The market will always correct itself.
I certainly availed myself of the bargains.
This group had become overbought for our market. They had loaded up on 97,98,99,00 Bourdeaux, 94, 97 and 00 ports, and a lot of other things.
They needed to clear it out and turn over the product.

I still seek the best deal on the internet, e-lists, and shops.
The key is to become an educated consumer in order to recognize the good deals.