The Auswine Forum

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine sales in Australia reached an estimated $1 billion in 2018–19, driven by year-on-year value growth of 9 per cent –- the strongest among domestic wine sales channels. It's great to see wineries succeeding in a market that includes the huge retailers and their own private label plonk.

Read the full article at Wine Australia here: [url]https://www.wineaustralia.com/market-insight ... vey-report[/url]

Well proofs in the pudding
Will be at the Bowen Estate CD next weekend, and apart from Rockford is probably the only winery I know where CD price is cheaper than retail price.
It astounds me really, (but clearly there are still some good guys in the business) that I purchased the 98s Bowen's for $18 a bottle and 20 vintages later the 17s are $27 a bottle...a mere increase of 50c a vintage.
CD price should always be the cheapest.
Cheers Craig

CD's normally price at full retail...and they don't undercut their distributors/retailers because they're reliant on those business partners. Obviously if they wanted to, they could undercut both. They do have discounts if you buy a case, etc, but that again is no different than what seems to be the normal discount for buying 12 or more bottles.

Wineries that sell direct don't have such a burden....

I've not been to the Bowen CD, but having seen them at the Coonawarra show, I didn't think their direct prices were any different from normal RRP...

On the plus side, I'm happy to see the wineries making more money by selling direct..although I'm a bit surprised at the number of them that are starting to charge for tastings...

Tscharkes. Half price on most if not all wines at CD. Super value. Great wines for the coin.
Been doing it for the last 3 years or more.
After 15-20 mins batter with most cellar attendants you end up getting cheaper prices in my experience.
Particularly if you're willing to splash a bit and you're a regular/member.
As for tasting fees? haven't paid those for a very long time. Can't remember the last time I paid to taste.

All in all if the winery is a big dog you tend to pay the going rate or evem more.
I experienced this in the BV last year.
One in particular was taking the P155 considering what the local Droogie McTavish had the same wine for $$$.
Laughable. Having said that I bought a single bottle from there considering it was CD release only and wasn't that exxy.

For me a cellar door visit still presents value above retail. It's not the old days when you could back up the kingswood wagon, but there's still quite a few cellar doors that reward loyalty, passion and honest feedback in the form of $$$ off the price.

Yes Scotty, makes me laugh, Pennies were charging $20 a head for the tasting flight that included St Henri at Nuri when I was last there. Better that 5 people chip in to buy at bottle (and get change) and get a decent taste...idiots!

Cheers Craig

As a consumer I get a bit frustrated that I can purchase wine cheaper at a retailer. I understand that the wineries don't want to undercut their retail partners, but sometimes the price difference is ridiculous. This actually puts me off going to cellar doors at times.

In my experience Aussie CD's are normally more expensive for the entry level wine(s) and at least even or sometimes better value for the more expensive labels. The exception being very "commercial" cellar doors as Scott and Craig say, where everything tends to be poor value (but why would you even bother going there?)

It’s great the industry doing well.

I enjoy Australian wine regions as they have great food and atmosphere . And BYO is offered as wine professionals seem to love to take their own wine .

So I generally go to my cellar and take a stash of old wines from the region and enjoy drinking them at restaurants. Did this recently in the Coonawarra . Take an old JR and pay a fair corkage .

I agree there is little worth buying .

I love the fact lots of cellar doors charge a refundable-on-purchase fee for tasting. Especially for medium to small wineries operating on a margin running on blood sweat and tears.

We love to taste but are a bit over buying at CD as it’s just too much hassle bringing wine home or putting a case of odds and ends together at Auspost; we also have too much wine to buy more but doesn’t stop us wanting to try everything and discover something new.

However after they have generously shared a tasting I feel like a bit of a bastard if I don’t make a purchase. Tasting fees mean I don’t have to buy but also don’t have to feel like a bastard.

All for what’s a pittance, really, in the grand scheme of cash spent on a holiday. I mean, seriously, its not that much.

The other aspect of them that I love is that it allows non-conglomerate medium-to-smaller CD’s to offer their premium wines for tasting where they otherwise wouldn’t have had the budget.

Absolutely Happy to toss the equivalent cost of a bottle of mediocre same-old same-old wine that I’d later have wondered why the hell I purchased it and at what neighbour’s BBQ I could flog it, instead towards a lovely tasting of top shelf wines with no commitment to leave the CD a pauper.

My favourite model is the tiered tasting fee approach. Call it a $5 for the estate range and maybe $20 on reserve or top shelf, refundable on purchase.

Many Aussie cellar doors are free, and I feel like a douchebag if I drink for free and dont buy. So I always buy a bottle.

Im not a fan of this going crazy however. Napa is often 50 to 75 real dollars.

Most dissapointing was the Yamazaki whisky distillery in Japan where after tasting the range I found out there was non for purchase. I understand the reasons but still I wanted to go home with my piece of Japan.