To take advantage of the lower prices on better quality-wines, it is best to know quite a bit about wine, so buyers who are happy with their $4 bottles may see an uptick in quality, but only if they have perceptive palates. Hryshchyshen Serhii/Shutterstock
Partially as a result of consumers discovering alternatives to wine, including low-alcohol or alcohol-free wines, sales of wine throughout the country are at their lowest level in 18 years.
The U.S. wine industry has been through sales declines on a cyclical basis—just about every 20 years. And it almost always cures itself when people begin to realize that wine is better than it has ever been, both domestic and imported.
This time, however, the downturn seems to be more prolonged than usual, which has caused a cataclysmic effect on wine businesses, both directly in the industry and tangentially. Wineries have closed or filed for bankruptcy. Even the most successful wineries have felt the pinch.
Not everyone is hurting, of course. Knowledgeable wine lovers are finding bargains in many locations. Fine wine shops are offering discounts on wines that previously were so in demand that they sold out before all potential buyers could get them. Wine auctions and brokers are other locations.
People who often buy wine between $5 and $10 per bottle may save a dollar here and there, but the big winners are people who buy expensive wines that simply aren’t moving at all.
Before the downturn, prices for French Champagne had slowly crept above $60 per bottle for standard products and top-end items soared above $100. Many fine wine shops have now begun to reduce all bubbly prices. Several wine shops now offer the $60-category wines at $40. A few are even less than that.
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In northern California, wine importer Kermit Lynch, whose products normally sell rapidly without discounting, sent out his newsletter a few days ago, highlighting the great increase in quality of wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon. Until Sept. 28, Lynch said all of these wines qualify for a 20 percent discount.
Two of the most important fine wine purveyors in the country, Costco and Trader Joe’s, recently began offering some remarkable value wines that are among the best they have ever offered.
One example is a Kirkland red wine from a reputable district in Italy that might otherwise sell for $60, but was available nationally for under $20. And a French Chardonnay that tasted like it should be $40 was being sold for $14.99.
Trader Joe’s has always carried excellent domestic wines that it discounts. Now, TJ’s imports are just as reasonable as always, but average quality has risen significantly, proof that imported producers are using better quality fruit that in years past might have sold for more money.
Discerning wine lovers might be shocked when they taste two TJ wines that sell for $6.99 each and taste more like $20 wines.
To take advantage of the lower prices on better quality-wines, it is best to know quite a bit about wine, so buyers who are happy with their $4 bottles may see an uptick in quality, but only if they have perceptive palates.
No Wine of the Week.
