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Montrachet on WTSO

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Sam Platt

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Montrachet on WTSO

by Sam Platt » Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:36 am

Late last night I checked WTSO and found that they were offering a 2006 Bouchard Montrachet for $399. Not a bad price. If it werent for the fact that we are getting ready to leave for a short vacation on Thursday I might have pulled the trigger on a bottle. When I checked back about 15 minutes later the wine was gone.

What I can't understand is how a flash site would end up with such a wine? Did Bouchard over-produce? Are they having trouble moving the '06's in particular? It seems that their standard distribution network would be happy to have the wine available to them at a reduced price.
Sam

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Bob Parsons Alberta

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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:59 am

Sorry but what is WTSO?
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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Sam Platt » Tue Sep 24, 2013 1:25 pm

Sorry. WTSO stands for Wines Til Sold Out.

It is a wine deal site that sells wines one at a time, ostensibly until it is gone, and then offers another wine. I have been buying quite a bit of wine from them. The prices are good and shipping is free for a certain minimum number of bottles purchased (usually 1 to 4). The caliber of wines offered is typically a bit beneath a Montrachet... actually, a LOT beneath.

WTSO.com
Sam

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Dale Williams

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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Dale Williams » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:00 pm

the logic of what ends up on flash sites can be baffling, but this I think makes sense.

1) 2006 was originally hailed as a great white vintage, but over last few years it's aura has dimmed, as some find it pushing overripeness and aging quickly (I like lots of 2006s, but not putting any for LT aging)
2) A string of vintages with pretty decent reps has followed
3) so if you are on wholesale/distributor level have a bunch of 2006 Montrachet that isn't selling, these are your choices
a) discount to usual retailers. Seems obvious, but there you have (I) an implication that your wines are overpriced, and that puts downward pressure on your more current (and future ) vintages and (II) a possibility that those retailers will pursue you for refunds on previously purchased bottles
b) discount to a flash site. No clawback, and a good chance that vast majority of customers are not regular Montrachet buyers and therefore no downward pressure on the vintage that is just released.

3-a-I is a scary possibility (witness the famed distributor dump when someone switches agencies, it's done for a reason - to send a message)
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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Sam Platt » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:55 am

Thanks for the excellent insight, Dale. After seeing the Montrachet I did read that the 2006 white burg vintage was not panning out as people had hoped. It looks like auction prices for the '06 WBs have dropped considerably over the last year or so. Bouchard must have decided that WTSO was the best mechanism to salvage some of its investment without imperiling the brand.

In your opinion, would it have been worth it to take a gamble on the 2006 Bouchard Montrachet at $399? The lowest price I have found it at elsewhere is $459.

Thanks again.
Sam

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Dale Williams

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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Dale Williams » Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:59 pm

I'm no Montrachet expert- probably less than a dozen ever. At $400 you are out of my worth-it level, especially for a young wine. But on the other hand if one wants, just for once, to serve his/her guests a bottle of Montrachet, $400 is probably as low as you would ever see (barring worldwide financial collapse). Jadot or Blain Gagnard might be a little cheaper.
Personally, if I was going to really splurge on a white Burg, I'd probably be more likely to spend $250-300 for a Neillon Chevalier. But really only GC Cote de Beaunes I ever buy are Pernot Batards. But those aren't Le Montrachet.
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Re: Montrachet on WTSO

by Richard Fadeley OLD » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:24 pm

After a enjoyable dove shoot (it's the season here, and they are perfect with good pinot noir) we went by a friends house and he opened a'96 Remossinet le Montrachet, one of the few that I've had. While it was sturdy and enjoyable, you could tell that it was past it's prime. What a shame, he has 4 more bottles. But it is not a total loss, just not the wine it was several years ago. For this reason I tend to drink wine a little younger and maybe push it a bit with an extended decant.
We followed this up with a Lionetti blend. Nice, but a little too much for my pallet.
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