My First Rant about Penfolds and Wynns

[Red Red Wine]

They bloody keep upping the prices. I really enjoy the Bin 389 and the John Riddoch range which i drink on special occasions but the price is getting out of hand. I mean freakin $50 for 04 389 and $46 for 05 389 and $70 for 05 JR not to mention $80 for 04 St Henri.

Might have to search for a new favourite now.

End rant Sorry.

[seddo]

Venting ones spleen occasionally is good for the soul

cheers
Seddo

[griff]

ON the other hand the Wynn's premiums used to be $100 or thereabouts. Took a knock to $50 a few years ago and only just recovering. But I feel the pain as well!

cheers

Carl

[Red Bigot]

ON the other hand the Wynn's premiums used to be $100 or thereabouts. Took a knock to $50 a few years ago and only just recovering. But I feel the pain as well!

cheers

Carl

They had to reduce the price of the John Riddoch 98 as it languished on the shelves.

Lat week I went to a tasting (I paid) of all the current Penfolds Bin/Premium reds (except Cellar Reserve and special bins), up to and including Grange 2003 and with 2 Thomas Hyland reds thrown in to keep things in perspective and make numbers up to 12.

There are some pretty good wines in the line-up, Bin 407 impressed more than expected, Bin 389 and St Henri less than expected, the St Henri was fairly volatile to start, may have been a dodgy cork. Magill, 707, RWT and Grange all pretty good wines but none of them are really worth the price to me

I bought Bin 389 2005 and St Henri 2004, I'm pretty sure they will be the last Penfolds reds I'll buy in any quantity, there are too many good alternatives on the market.

If Wynns can keep up the quality on the Black Label Cabernet and keep price rises reasonable, that will be about the only Wynns red I'll buy.

I've got 78 bottles of Penfolds reds and 84 Wynns left in my cellar, unless I decide to move some off to auction, that should keep me happy for a few years yet.

[Ratcatcher]

Yep, I used to buy a couple of each of the Bins and an assortment of Wynns every vintage and six packs in the good years. Now I only buy the must haves.

I guess Fosters must not need me as a customer any more. It's their business but there must be plenty of people willing to pay the prices.

It seems odd to me to ramp up the prices when housing, petrol and groceries are on the way up and people have less disposable income.

Since 2000 I've only bought:

1 x Bin 389 02
1 x Bin 389 04
3 x Bin 389 05

1 x Bin 2002 Bin 28 magnum and only because it was priced at $37.50???

3 x 2002 St Henri.

6 x Wynns Cab 2004

and a couple of John Riddochs at auction for high $40's.

I'll buy some 04 St Henri if I see them under $70.

From 94-99 I reckon I bought 100+ bottles of Penfolds and Wynns.

I'm not being anti-Penfolds as far as the wines go, I'd still happily buy them if they seemed good QPR, but I am anti their pricing policies.

Every time I think about buying a Penfolds I think what else is available at the same price and usually decide against it because I think I can get better value elsewhere.

[Red Bigot]

Talking about price rises, or in this case no price rise. I'm just typing up the tasting sheet for a Balnaves Cabernet vertical tomorrow, 6 bottles from selected vintages 1996 - 2006. I paid $27 for the 96 and the same or slightly less for most years since then, with the latest 2006 vintage coming in at that price despite the RRP increase. (The prices have jumped up a couple of dollars pb since the opening offer.)

Well done Balnaves and the independent merchants I buy from.

Likewise Majella Cabernet hasn't really had a price rise since 1998 or 2000.

[Red Red Wine]

Yes I can agree with you on the Balnaves and Majella which i wish i could've discover earlier. Also Saltrams prices have been nice and low with Dan Murphys discounts.

[Daryl Douglas]

Whinge Time!!!

I paid $90/btl for 98 Wynns JR and Michael through Winepros VC connection, not long before the prices were dropped to $50-$60.

The Wynn's BL will be back around $30 when discounted within a couple of years.

Fosters.................

[Wayno]

Ah, you're one of the unfortunate souls. Still, when you drink it, it'll taste so much better as it was a $90 wine, not a $50 wine...
I was at the Wynns cellar door the day Southcorp/Rosemount cut the axe on that price. Cellar door staff were just as bemused as we were.
Lots of angry collectors following......

[n4sir]

Likewise Majella Cabernet hasn't really had a price rise since 1998 or 2000.

The price rise just happened late this month - up from RRP $28 to $33/bottle. Still very reasonably priced.

I've found the new Seppeltsfield fortifieds pricing a bit of a shock though, even considering James Godfrey told a group of us we've had it too good for too long and I was expecting the new owners to put them up. After seeing the Sherries jump from $18/750ml to $30/500ml I've been madly searching to see if there's any of the old stock around - looks like some other smart buyers got in first so I've had no luck so far.

The only Penfolds Icon wine I bought was the 04 St Henri - I was impressed by the other wines but like a few comments here thought I could better use the money elsewhere. Likewise I passed on getting a couple of bottles of the 05 John Riddoch - after trying it I wasn't impressed enough for the price being asked, and for about $15 more bought a six-pack of 05 Majella instead.

Cheers,
Ian

[griff]

Likewise Majella Cabernet hasn't really had a price rise since 1998 or 2000.

The price rise just happened late this month - up from RRP $28 to $33/bottle. Still very reasonably priced.

I've found the new Seppeltsfield fortifieds pricing a bit of a shock though, even considering James Godfrey told a group of us we've had it too good for too long and I was expecting the new owners to put them up. After seeing the Sherries jump from $18/750ml to $30/500ml I've been madly searching to see if there's any of the old stock around - looks like some other smart buyers got in first so I've had no luck so far.

The only Penfolds Icon wine I bought was the 04 St Henri - I was impressed by the other wines but like a few comments here thought I could better use the money elsewhere. Likewise I passed on getting a couple of bottles of the 05 John Riddoch - after trying it I wasn't impressed enough for the price being asked, and for about $15 more bought a six-pack of 05 Majella instead.

Cheers,
Ian

Either the price being asked for the JR was way over or you got a great deal on the majella!

cheers

Carl

[Red Bigot]

Likewise Majella Cabernet hasn't really had a price rise since 1998 or 2000.

The price rise just happened late this month - up from RRP $28 to $33/bottle. Still very reasonably priced.

It's still $28 ex-CD as it has been for many years, Prof told us in May there was no price rise, so maybe your retailer is profiteering. It is available for $26+freight if you look around.

The Balnaves cabernet went up $5 RRP, but good e-tailers must have got release specials as the retail price initially didn't go up, has now a bit.

[Gary W]

The media release says $28 for the Majella - and it's a good wine too - very fresh and quite acidic for Majella but good. Should go a few years. Balnaves 2006 looking very smart too. Nice tannin work.
GW

[n4sir]

Likewise Majella Cabernet hasn't really had a price rise since 1998 or 2000.

The price rise just happened late this month - up from RRP $28 to $33/bottle. Still very reasonably priced.

It's still $28 ex-CD as it has been for many years, Prof told us in May there was no price rise, so maybe your retailer is profiteering. It is available for $26+freight if you look around.

Interesting... Campbell's website has the RRP listed as $33 for the 2006 which was also the RRP at a regular instore Prof & the family were presenting, but I also notice they still have it listed as $28 on the website order form.

Luckily I got the 2005 at mates rates anyway which turned out to be about $27.50/bottle (and no freight). I also got it just in time too - when the IWC trophies were announced what was a considerable number of cases all sold out within 48 hours.

Cheers,
Ian

[Luke W]

going back to the 389, it's often possible to get it reduced 20 or even 30% when BWS have their little discounts - I think I've only paid $35-$38 a bottle when this happens (actually got the 2001 grange for about $350 at the same time)

[Red Red Wine]

Never thought BWS were so cheap. Their prices are always higher than most places. I have to keep a look out on.

Also I have been noticing that any wine that get a good review or win any trophies then it will automatically go up in prices because every tom dick and harry and including me will rush out to get them thus creating more demands so up up they go.

If only i don't rely so much on other people's taste and opinion LOL

[Wayno]

I do recall a 30% of all red wine sale quite some time back where the shelves where stripped but I do recall some absolute bottom line bargains.

[Ratcatcher]

I've bought from BWS 30% off sale but I hesitate every time because of the storage conditions.

Maybe it's just in Hobart but you could be buying a $90 cork sealed wine that has been standing up for 12 months in a non-air conditioned store.

It's different if you are talking the high turnover brands but some of the $50 plus wines seem to sit there undisturbed for long periods.

[Luke W]

That reminds me of some Henschke Mt Edelstone a couple of years back - BWS had their 30% off 6 bottles or more and I asked if they had any decent wine as most of the stuff on the shelves was a bit average. Under a desk at the front he had 6 bottles of MT E but he said its bound to be off as it had stood up for 12 months. I said then sell it to me as a collector's piece rather than as a quality wine - he said we'll try one first. As it opened up quite dumb he was quite prepared to sell me the wines for $25 each and even through in the opened bottle. By 8pm that night the opened bottle was quite glorious and I'm thankful that Steven H uses good quality corks.....

[Sean]

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[Jay60A]

... Looking at the Penfolds prices now, it seems we are being tested to see what we will pay, and maybe they are trying to build some value back into the brand name?? ...

For me part of the Penfolds cachet was a combination of high quality and reasonable price ... perhaps peaking with the '90 and '91 vintages. Quality is down, except at the top end, price is up, competition is much tougher than then.

A bit like BMW in the 70's Penfolds need to refocus on quality, quality, quality.
I think the low end wines are diluting the brand image ... a lot.

[Sean]

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[dazza1968]

wynns upper market wines imo have lacked true promotion! I went to a couple of tastings of their wines a while ago and they didn't even have them for tasting..................I asked them where was their jr and michael was and they informed me they were too good (like being something too precious to try) I said well i have a few bottles in my collection and from my point a view if you want people to buy it then you need to have it readily available to taste............you dont buy wines with this price tag with out a sample to confirm whether you like it or not! I then wrote an email to wynns when the price plummet occured and they said there was alot sitting in the ware house and wasn't selling so they price adjusted it to clear the stock. when you can not try it you wont buy it !!!!!!!!!!!!!For me wynns lost my respect and since then have bought maybe 6 bottles in total. Until this year when i could actually try the 05 michael and JR at a tasting............once a world renowned wine ,now has lost its gloss imo , in my email i said world class wine needs world class promotion

regards Dazza

[Chuck]

Whinge Time!!!

I paid $90/btl for 98 Wynns JR and Michael through Winepros VC connection, not long before the prices were dropped to $50-$60.

The Wynn's BL will be back around $30 when discounted within a couple of years.

Fosters.................

You can thank Sandy (can't remember his last name), CEO of Southcorp at the time, for the price reduction. Soon after he was shown the front door by his father-in-law Bob Oatley. Oh to have been a fly on the wall.

Bob was smart to back crappy Rosemount into Southcorp for about $1.5 billion take shares as payment, sack all the Southcorp people then sell to Mildara Blass and precipitate the takeover. Trevor Hoy, then CEO of Mildara, didn't want to buy Southcorp and quit recently.

Current carrying value now of Rosemount is about $500 million so Bob's a lazy billion ahead. Gotta admire him. He even bought Rycroft in McLaren Vale a small winery making a smart blend call Traditional. Now it's know as Rosemount Traditional and costs twice the price. The other Rosemount "premium" wines are now wallowing unloved on the shelves apparently quite vin ordinaire.

Rosemount was always just a Hunter winery.

Chuck