More Deals on Australian Wines

I’ve posted previously about the discounting of Aussie wine in the US, in main these close-outs are coming from one importer in particular – The Grateful Palate.

Last weekend I was offered a few more. How about Geoff Weaver Sauvignon Blanc for $3.99USD? This wine retails for about $24USD so $4 sounds pretty good! OK the catch is that its 2004. No one in their right mind would buy a 5 year old Sauvignon blanc? So I got a case. Well it is under screw cap which Geoff Weaver claims “helps retain the fruit intensity and freshness and guarantees the wine will age well.”

The proof is in the taste. This little cracker is a very light straw yellow with lemon, grapefruit and oddly a hint of kerosene and the faintest hint of reduction. The palate is light weight with refreshing acidity, nice balance and good length of flavor. A little herbaceous note comes up with some air. Easily 87 points. It won’t live forever but with Spring/Summer just around the corner I bet we can get through a dozen bottles with some enjoyment.

Another wine is the Burge Family “Renoux”, a Barossa blend of Cabernet (54%), Shiraz (32%), Merlot (14%). The sale price was $8.99USD for a wine that retails around $40-45USD. Being from the 2003 vintage there is nice bottle age on this and it shows in the orange/brown edge. Its earthy and spicy with the aroma of an old ink well in a wooden school desk thrown in to remind me of the days I learned to write with pen and ink. Its quite attractive in a feral kind of way. There is loads of juicy acidity, chewy tannins from all that Cab and great flavors on the palate and finish. Its got a few more years left. A good 90 point wine, so another excellent value quaffer.

The third wine is the 2002 McLean’s Farm Barossa Reserve Shiraz. The retail on this is around $30USD. A wine Halliday gave 94 points and a drinking window out to 2012 in his 2006 Companion. I paid $8.99USD. I’m currently sipping on it and still trying to figure it out. There is pretty prominent sulfur (dioxide maybe – burnt match) on it which seems to be going way; its under cork. Underneath that is some really nice spices, tobacco and damp earth. Its well balanced with fine tannins and clean acidity. But its still warming up from the cellar and so to seal from J P Donleavy its bouquet is shrinking back into the glass from the cold. Might have to buy a few more just to see if there is any bottle variation!

The Devaluing of Australian Shiraz in the US

A winemaker makes a wine, sells it to an exporter/importer who sells it on to a distributor who then sells it to a retailer who then offers you the wine at a competitive price. Or so the theory goes. But in reality many things influence the competitive pricing of wine. One of these is the inability to sell the wine for its recommended retail price, a not uncommon event in the USA with Aussie Shiraz these days. Another is when an importer/exporter is revising their portfolio. Combine the two and you get a fire sale.

Such seems to be the case with wines under The Grateful Palate umbrella. The Grateful Palate has recently reduced its portfolio to about 25 producers from a high of 70 a few years ago. Its not clear whether producers have been dropped or have left Grateful Palate but the result has been deep discounts on Australian wines. Take, for example the deals I was offered today. McLean’s Farm 2002 Shiraz (Barossa Valley) which sells retail (according to Wine Searcher) for $23.99 to $29.99USD, but offered to me for $8.99. Or the 2004 Gibson Old Vine Collection Barossa Valley Shiraz, $99.99USD retail on Wine Searcher, but I was able to purchase it for $44.99. The most recent vintage sells for $96AUD mail order from Gibson’s.

Some say that Australian wines in the US need to drop their prices to more reasonable levels after the big increases that have followed with the extravagance of high Parker points. This may be true, but there is another story that may be building behind this and it is that importers/exporters, distributors, and retailers are seeing significant losses in profits with the selling of Australian wines. When you lose money you tend not to want to expose yourself to the same position again. And so when a major importer/exporter has a fire sale on Aussie wines the question that needs to be answered is who would want to build a portfolio of Australian wines when they see others having problems selling the wines unless they have dramatic reductions in prices?