Wendouree 2017 Mailer

[grhm1961]

Received only four bottles of the 18 we ordered in our sixth year (with biggish orders each year) due to "very low yields" of Cabernet. Damn shame ... might have to put the unused money toward extra Rockford or something.

[sjw_11]

Received only four bottles of the 18 we ordered in our sixth year (with biggish orders each year) due to "very low yields" of Cabernet. Damn shame ... might have to put the unused money toward extra Rockford or something.

I am not too happy about this... Its one thing to prioritise longer-term members but from the feedback it sounds like this year was way too much of a crap shoot with many people of broadly similar tenure in the mailing list getting variously all, some, or none/virtually none of their allocation for no particular rhyme or reason.

[DaveS]

Received only four bottles of the 18 we ordered in our sixth year (with biggish orders each year) due to "very low yields" of Cabernet. Damn shame ... might have to put the unused money toward extra Rockford or something.

I am not too happy about this... Its one thing to prioritise longer-term members but from the feedback it sounds like this year was way too much of a crap shoot with many people of broadly similar tenure in the mailing list getting variously all, some, or none/virtually none of their allocation for no particular rhyme or reason.

I'm sure the arrival date of the order form had something to do with who got what. First in best dressed for the red marked forms! Either that or their snail mail system is failing them.

[grhm1961]

Received only four bottles of the 18 we ordered in our sixth year (with biggish orders each year) due to "very low yields" of Cabernet. Damn shame ... might have to put the unused money toward extra Rockford or something.

I am not too happy about this... Its one thing to prioritise longer-term members but from the feedback it sounds like this year was way too much of a crap shoot with many people of broadly similar tenure in the mailing list getting variously all, some, or none/virtually none of their allocation for no particular rhyme or reason.

I'm sure the arrival date of the order form had something to do with who got what. First in best dressed for the red marked forms! Either that or their snail mail system is failing them.

We got our order in very quickly, so I'm surprised we got a bad deal while others seemed to do OK. What is really bugging me though is seeing bottles of the 2015 cabernet/malbec in a Sydney wine store *already* for $110!

[wiggum]

Sam

I've already had my say. So I won't say anymore.

[dave vino]

Come on guys, think of the logistics of all of this. They have X amount of wines, and a really big pile of hand written order forms. How are you expecting them to go through that and try to reconcile who gets what, they don't have a MRP software or anything

It would be an impossible task.

[Pat]

I put in my form the day I received it so I don't think it's that. I think it's a simple case of demand exceeding supply and them (Tony and Lita) trying to be somewhat fair. When all the red stripes (like me) request wine I think it's more of a rotating system of states being served first. My staple order is a few of each of all the wines, this year I only got the Shiraz and Shiraz blends. Whilst I obviously would have liked to have received the Cabernet ones etc I'm happy with what I received, and next year I'll probably get what I order. I think the Issue of not getting your exact order is well entrenched into the realm of first world problems

[Hacker]

I can only guess but the mailing list has grown enormously over the last 5 or so years. Trying to keep so many people happy would be a thankless task. It seems like the black initial people get most/all of what they want. Luckily I fall into that category.

[JakeBarnes]

It sounds like they just had stuff all Cabernet this year. It seems to be primarily the Cab and Cab Malbec people are missing out on.

[Diddy]

The fairest way to do it would have been to proportionally scale back the scarce wines for all the red stripe customers so everyone got at least a bottle or two. Cant see the fairness in Punter A ordering and receiving two dozen and Punter B ordering two bottles and getting nothing.

[Ozzie W]

People will read all this and next year they'll request a bigger allocation than they actually want. The risk is that you end up with more than you actually want, which is what happened to me last year.

[qwertt]

People will read all this and next year they'll request a bigger allocation than they actually want. The risk is that you end up with more than you actually want, which is what happened to me last year.

I made that mistake the first year I ordered and I haven’t done it again. If you look at the story of allocation shown in this thread you can see that there is no scaling back. You either get what you ordered in a particular variety, or you don’t. The safest method is still to order exactly what you want (subject to published limits) and if you don’t get it all, spend the money on some of the other superb wines now being made around Australia.

[JakeBarnes]

The fairest way to do it would have been to proportionally scale back the scarce wines for all the red stripe customers so everyone got at least a bottle or two. Cant see the fairness in Punter A ordering and receiving two dozen and Punter B ordering two bottles and getting nothing.

The only problem with that approach is Wendouree would have to wait until all the orders were in, pull together a spreadsheet on who ordered what and then do the maths on how much everyone is allowed. I'd imagine that process would slow everything up by at least a month and possibly a lot longer.

The simplest way would be first in best dressed, which would give an advantage to SA buyers and disadvantage those in Qld etc.

Ultimately though it's a small family owned winery and they get to decide what works best for them.

[JakeBarnes]

People will read all this and next year they'll request a bigger allocation than they actually want. The risk is that you end up with more than you actually want, which is what happened to me last year.

At least in that situation, you can easily offload your excess at auction, most likely at a profit.

[Ozzie W]

The fairest way to do it would have been to proportionally scale back the scarce wines for all the red stripe customers so everyone got at least a bottle or two. Cant see the fairness in Punter A ordering and receiving two dozen and Punter B ordering two bottles and getting nothing.

The only problem with that approach is Wendouree would have to wait until all the orders were in, pull together a spreadsheet on who ordered what and then do the maths on how much everyone is allowed. I'd imagine that process would slow everything up by at least a month and possibly a lot longer.

It can be done without slowing down the shipping of wines. Simply send out the order form in advance a few weeks before the wines are ready to ship. Specify a date where all received forms will be processed and let everyone know that forms received after this date may not receive an allocation. Then tally it all up, work out allocations and start the shipping process.

On the other hand, doing it the way they do it now just adds mystery to the whole process which is in line with their unique approach to selling wine. Personally, I don't think they need to change anything. Wendouree is unique because of their current approach. Their approach is all part of their brand.

[bdellabosca]

People will read all this and next year they'll request a bigger allocation than they actually want. The risk is that you end up with more than you actually want, which is what happened to me last year.

At least in that situation, you can easily offload your excess at auction, most likely at a profit.

Exactly - so hardly something to complain about.

My first year to the list and I ordered 42 bottles spread evenly across all of their wines (not excess ordering - I wanted that many for my cellar for future drinking). I have not received anything yet but my CC has been charged for 6 x $50 bottles so I assume that is all I will be getting. I'm not complaining as I was particularly curious about trying some of their less "conventional Australia" blends (which I think were the cheaper bottles) and they could obviously get more for their wines if they wanted so anything I can get at that price is well appreciated. If I want more bottles I can seek them on the secondary market.

It does seem like, at the very least, an excel worksheet to capture all of the orders and allocate bottles (which can capture the subtleties of different customer band rankings for priority, i.e. crayon colours) would help them. An online ordering tool through their website would be even more streamlined - I understand Marius is switching to something like this for this year. I would be happy to have a go at building the excel version (I'm no good with online aspects) for them for free - I will give them a call and see if they are interested. Out of curiosity, anyone else spoken to them about this in the past?

[Matt@5453]

I would be happy to have a go at building the excel version (I'm no good with online aspects) for them for free - I will give them a call and see if they are interested. Out of curiosity, anyone else spoken to them about this in the past?

why change their 'system' now on the back of a phone call. please let us know how you get on , I've got a fair idea of their response.

[TiggerK]

Considering they don't even have a website yet, I doubt they'll want to change their paper and crayon systems, let alone online ordering! Suspect they think Excel is just a car.

[crusty2]

I've been on the mailer since the 09 vintage and I'm still a red striper.
But I've always received what I've ordered. Is it because I'm in SA and I send the order back within 24-48 hrs?
I dunno. Another Wendouree mystery.

I've been a red striper since the 98 vintage ...

-- George Krashos

Still a red stripe since 1990 vintage. Love thier service. Confused about allocations. Such is life. Happy with whatever they choose to give me.
Great wines to drink and share.
Recent vertical of Shiraz/Malbec from 1988 to 2015 showed a linearity of style with vintage variations diluted by blending percentage variations.
Stand out on the night was the 1996

Cheers

[Hacker]

Still a red stripe since 1990 vintage.
Cheers

You sure? I have been buying since the 1990 vintage and only since the 1996 offering when allocations started has the initial/red stripe thing been pertinent. I thought everyone from that early 1990's era had an initialed order form. Might be wrong though; part of the mystique of Wendouree.