The Auswine Forum

Kalleske Grenache Old Vine 2003 $125USD/btl
Kalleske Shiraz Greenock 2003 $150USD/btl
Kalleske Shiraz Red Nectar 2003 $99.99USD/btl

All courtesy of the Grapes The Wine Company - "founded in the fall of 1997 with the intention of making the world´s greatest wines more accessible." Right!

Mike

>>Kalleske Shiraz Red Nectar 2003<<

Is that an export only label or something ?

Red Nectar was retailing in Sydney for $25 AUD!!! Great wine, had a bottle with friends last week. It is made by Troy, but under the Red Nectar label, owned by his cousin, smart chick!
Glad I bought some '03 Greenock Shiraz before RPJ got his paws on it. It's all a big game really.

Red Nectar is a wine made by Troy for his cousin. Avaliable here in Australia as well I believe.

More information can be found here:


www.rednectar.com.au


AJ

apjordan wrote:Red Nectar is a wine made by Troy for his cousin. Avaliable here in Australia as well I believe.

More information can be found here:


www.rednectar.com.au


AJ

2003 sold out, 2004 should be available from your quality e-tailer

and since when is US$100-150 per bottle considered cheap??????????

Anonymous wrote:and since when is US$100-150 per bottle considered cheap??????????

I think Mikes tounge may have been in his cheek

I think Mikes tounge may have been in his cheek

[/quote]

Planted so firmly I reckon it almost choked him.
MM

I noticed a 6 pack over here went for USD 649 at auction. Amazing .......


Mike

Anonymous wrote:

I think Mikes tounge may have been in his cheek

Planted so firmly I reckon it almost choked him.
MM

Choking? No, just trying to provide a little humor along with some insight into how the US wine market treats the rising stars of the Australian wine scene. Kalleske is probably the best, and certainly the most recent, example in my experience of the consumer being taken to the cleaners by retailers. If you do a search using Wine Searcher you never find very many retailers listed as dealing in Kalleske wines. What you do find is significant price differences. The most reasonable is Cork and Bottle - sold out of the not yet released 2003 shiraz at $45USD/btl. Old Town Wine Co will give you a discount of 1 cent from $100USD for the same wine (presale). And I've already indicated what Cripes, I mean, Grapes The Wine Co wants for Kalleske wines.

Even with the current exchange rates these prices make the $80AUD starting prices on Wickman's Fine Wine Auctions seem reasonable. Additionally you also have to weigh these outrageous USD prices against the simple fact that there is just so much excellent Aussie wine available. Then there is the overwhelming amount of local stuff, and all that French, Italian, German, etc., etc. The supply never really ends over here. The fortunate thing for the retailers who do sell at these high prices is that, especially on the East Coast, the market is a bottomless pit for low production, high scoring wines. They can charge almost anything and someone will pay it.

Whether the folks who buy these wines have a history of buying Aussie wines, whether they will drink the wine, and whether they will then actually talk about it is another matter. Check out Ric Einstein's note about Hill of Grace on his Drops 'n Dregs page at Torb Wine. Ric found very few TN's on HoG, most were from the US, and most from first time drinkers. Its probably reasonable to argue that we may never get a real idea of how some of these new low production wines, like Kalleske, age simply because they have gone into the cellars of people who are collecting these wines based on points and not for what they represent. Hopefully the winery, or some of you folks, are laying a good number aside so that they can be assessed in 10, 20, 30, 40 years!

Mike

Hopefully the winery, or some of you folks, are laying a good number aside so that they can be assessed in 10, 20, 30, 40 years!

Mike,

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment and I do have some of these put down, I won't be posting TN's on anything here in 40 years, unless there is a direect connection from another place, where ever that other place happens to be.

TORB wrote:

Hopefully the winery, or some of you folks, are laying a good number aside so that they can be assessed in 10, 20, 30, 40 years!

Mike,

Whilst I appreciate the sentiment and I do have some of these put down, I won't be posting TN's on anything here in 40 years, unless there is a direect connection from another place, where ever that other place happens to be.

Ric:

I'm sure there will be some younger forumites quite willing to drink the remainder of your cellar after you've gone, that is unless old age turns you into a greedy old bugger and you drink the lot before you go!! If you do, just make sure you mind-meld with the forum before the lights go out so we can get those last few TNs.

Mike

Mike,

Having recently moved to New York, you are spot on with your East Coast observations. I am currently in discussions with a couple of NY bottle shops regarding 1 for 1 swaps of 2003 Kalleske shiraz for 96 Dom Perignon ! Its all about the brag factor over here.

Mike H

US$649 for a six pack is staggering. I assume that was on Winebid so was that the total price or was there a buyers premium too?

That's what happens I suppose when there are people with so much money that they'll pay over the top for exclusivity. The same people have been at it for a couple of decades with Burgundy and Bordeaux so is this really much different in the end? It's just that we've bought Kalleske et al whereas most of us have never bought First Growths, DRC etc.

At the end of the day the Kalleske is damn good wine, it's just unfortunate it's being pushed out of our orbit at present. Mike, you're right, I might have to get in a bid on the Wickman auction whilst the price is still sane over here.

The only saving grace on this label might be the ramped up production from the 2004 vintage.

I notice Langtons Exchange has a doz at AUD$90 of the 2002 Shiraz. Perhaps with all this hype it is not such a high price after all. (I am not the vendor )

cheers,

David M.

Chaps,

From an objective point of view; Why not put yourself down on the mailing list here at Auswine or at Kalleske (if their mailing list is still open that is) so that as soon as next years vintage becomes available you can at least buy it at retail prices rather than pay auction prices.

The 2004 vintage will see a significant increase in production of all Kalleske Wines - from the very small 2002 release which was only 450 cases in total of both the Shiraz and Grenache.

To quote Troy Kalleske (Winemaker) from another forum :

Anticipated case (dozen) makes for 2004 as follows:
Greenock Shiraz: 2000 cases
Old Vine Grenache: 200 cases
Old Vine Shiraz: 160 cases
Clarry's Grenache Shiraz: 800 cases
Clarry's Semillon Chenin Blanc: 800 cases