Cloth Ears wrote:If it's a sellers market, you price it to what the market will bear. IIRC, some of the recent iPhones (or iPods) were about half the price in Aus compare to Japan or China. So, all of a sudden, none available over here.
I think the difference is that at least it was available at the "half price" and everyone had a chance to buy it.
Cloth Ears wrote:So, pretty much, if they think they can sell at that price, good on them. For myself, I wouldn't be buying it at half the price in the current vintage. There's lots of 'not the top vintage' years around that you can get for less than half at auction. You can drink them now. And they're not a bad drop (and they'll impress most people who drink the label and not the contents). That being said, I don't Grange at all since the '90 started selling for over $100. But I'd be partial to a '63 if I get a small lottery win ($1600 should suffice).
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Not only would I not buy Grange at half price, last month I did not buy a bottle of Grange that I could have at half price. It was the 2004 vintage, and granted it is a good wine but for me it wasn't worth $400. The last time I was tempted to buy Grange was the 1990 vintage when it was on offer at A$99 in Perth but I was about to embark on a backpacking trip to Hong Kong and China.
Redwine&Rum wrote:I've got no problem with the price. Wouldn't be surprised to see it hit $1,000 in future years. Grange is viewed as the best icon wine in Australia. Whether it is actually the best wine or not is irrelevant. It's peoples perceptions.
Think of how much a bottle of first growth Bordeaux costs. It's insane.
I definitely won't be buying any. I echo the sentiment that you can get well stored bottles with good provenance on the secondary market for half the price. And could easily buy 10-15 bottles of some bottles of wine that is equally good quality, just doesn't have icon status.
Penfolds is being cleverly marketed to the rising middle/upper class in China. That's where all the production is going. I don't know anyone who buys Grange, let alone buys the Bin 389. The last 389 I bought was the 2010 vintage for $55 a bottle delivered. And that's where I think its worth. I don't drink any Penfolds anymore. There is simply so much wine out there at a better value for money price point.
Well put. Apart from birth year Grange for my ankle biters (1992 and 1995) the last Grange I bought was 1990, 7 at around $110 and sold 6 after a few years for $350 to fund my habit. Was given a 1997 and it was meh. Nice but not great.
Carl
Your worst game of golf is better than your best day at work
Had an ad pop up on a web page today for DM flogging the latest Penfolds collection. Guess what? Andrew Caillard has given Grange 100 points. Therefore just as good as the St Henri from 2012 which also got 100. Glad I picked up a few St Henri at 1/10 of the price of this Grange. Oh and the drinking window 2026-2080.Yep that is not a typo. 2080!! -Most on this forum will be dead, or my youngest daughter who was born in 2012 will be a geriatric.
never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
The impact of the yearly Grange price increases has been to not only turn me away from ever bothering to acquire some, but also had it's impact on my interest in the rest of the range. There was once a time a several years ago I was considering some St Henri but I never did buy and have lost interest completely. I own no Penfolds wines at all, and I am completely ok with that as there is so much other stuff out there. Part of the problem with Penfolds is that it is the cash cow for a corporate who needs to justify its results to shareholders. I think we have started to see some of the other brands like Wynns being directed in the same way, but they don't quite have the international leverage so it is a harder sell, at least for the moment
Probably be one at next years Barossa Vintage festival wine auction for 1/3 the price and a '12 HOG for 1/10. Lets see if any dickhead in Mr Marton's black book pays $185g
That's right. There is too much value elsewhere. Too much good wine to buy for under $100 a bottle. Why splash that much money on a bottle of grange. Even Bin 707 is now $500? Crazy.