The Cost of Fame

The value of the Australia dollar, or lack of it has had some interesting consequences and effects on local wine drinkers; and when you take into account the meteoritic rise in popularity of our best reds in the USA, the picture is not looking rosy for lovers of certain Australian wines.

If we examine the premium line up from BRL Hardy you will see what I mean. For example, the 96 and 97 vintages of Eileen cost me about $45 on special. In last weeks Winestar Journal in relation to the 98 Eileen, Bert said “A nice price hike, complete with a flash new wooden box and a security watermark on the label. But is it any good? Truth is it is exceptional for the few who do not mind shelling out crazy dollars for wine. Then again, with the quantities we got, bugger promoting it at all!” $83.33 a bottle! Even if you could find this wine at mate’s rates, it will cost you about $70. In short, this wine has had an increase of over 40% in one hit. Whilst this wine may be worth such a large increase, what about the others in the same stable?

It’s expected that the 96 Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon and 98 Jack Mann will both cost similar amounts as the Eileen, about $80 to $90. Once again we are looking at huge increases in price here. Thomas Hardy has been around since the 89 vintage so it’s a relative new comer and even though it a very good quality Coonawarra Cabernet it doesn’t exactly have a brilliant and consistent track record. The 93 vintage was very ordinary and retailers had trouble moving it at $30, and that was only about three years ago! John Riddoch is a benchmark Coonawarra Cabernet that has trouble being sold at the current price ($80-$90) and back vintages from the early 90’s (great wines) often sell for less than the current vintage. Frankly I just can’t see the Thomas selling for $80 a bottle. As Oz Cabernet is not popular in the all important US export market, I can’t understand the strategy behind the marketing of this wine, but then what would I know about marketing?

The first vintage of Jack Mann was the 94 and this wine is a very high quality WA cabernet blend. The 96 vintage retailed for about $50. If the 98 is released (there was no 97) at $80 once again we have an increase of over 40% for a Cabernet with a three vintage track record. More lunacy, but I am not sure if the lunacy is from the producers or the people who buy it!

Then we get onto the ever-popular Leasingham Classic Clare range, both the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. There is no doubt that the Shiraz has been one of the best value offerings available in Oz for years. Last year the 97 cost me $26 on special. The 98 vintage which will be released soon is likely to cost between $38 (on special) and $45 per bottle. Another 40%+ increase in one vintage. The 98 offering will sell out because 98 was such a good year and the US will soak up a fair proportion of the stock.

In years gone by I would have bought a dozen Eileen, a six pack of Thomas, a six pack of Jack Mann, a couple of dozen Classic Clare, but with this release it will be a lone six pack of Classic Clare, and that’s it. The rest of my money will go to producers that offer better value.

This situation is going to be very interesting to watch from the sidelines and see what happens when the weaker 99 and 2000 vintages are released? Will the wines sell at that these new prices? Will short term profit cause long-term pain? Or will the US market soak the wine that the smart Oz buyers refuse to purchase?

Time will tell all.

Cheers

Ric