Readers Write
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008
State of the Australian Retail Wine Market - April 2004 - Part 2
© Red Bigot (Brian Handreck) Part One can be found here
This time I'll open by wondering out loud (or in print anyway) about why merchants like WineLife or Wine Ezy would subscribe to the Wine Robot service when in almost every case they are the highest price listed, often by a considerable margin? Is it a case of any advertising exposure is better than none or am I missing something here? It will also be interesting to see if the WineLife "takeover" of Winepros will really be a positive "makeover" or just fizzle out if the revenues aren't enough to justify the costs, WineLife prices don't look good enough to attract much business.
Some positive feedback from Vickie re Avalon Fine Wines: "I've always received free delivery and often the wine arrives the very next day via Fastaway couriers who now know our home! Excellent service thus far plus some good prices."
Now on to the next batch of merchant reviews...
Merchant Assessments (continued) (in alphabetic order)
Cand'Amber
Canberra-based, has 2-3 shops and a web site.
Site: Fairly amateurish home-grown site, with copy-and-paste ordering (it is secure though) from long lists of wines grouped by variety. At least it loads quickly.
Differentiators: Eclectic range, discounts of 20% start at 3 bottles, back vintages of well-cellared wines, plus access to a long list of imported wines.
Range: They claim about 1800 wines listed, a mix of large and small makers, more small makers as they try to offer wines the majors shun. Most wines are in stock, they order some when you order.
Prices: Not the best, but not bad and some very good. I buy quite a few single bottles in lots of 3 for tastings and appreciate the 20% off for small purchases.
Service: I haven't ordered via the site as they have their main shop close to where I live, but they seem to have a fairly large clientele outside of Canberra, including overseas. I've been buying from this store since they opened in 1976. The only negative is that other than the "museum" wine cellar the shop and storage area out the back get very hot in summer.
Cellarmasters
Sydney--based wine club operator owned by
Beringer-Blass, they have their own large winery facilities in the
Barossa. CM has many guises including operating the wine clubs for many
banks, David Jones (free membership), Farmer Brothers Direct
etc.
Site: Various sites with different templates, but similar layout and a lot of common content.
Differentiators: Wine Club (paid membership or free depending on which one you join), new-member extra-special offers, huge number of own-label wines, wine-plans - regular mixed case deliveries, "specials", try-and-return-if-you-don't-like-it policy.
Range: Large number of own labels not available anywhere else, proportion of other producer wines.
Prices: It's hard to compare prices on wines that are only available from one supplier, their prices on other wines are high (they offer to refund the difference if you find a wine at a lower price after you buy from them). There are good wines to be had at reasonable prices amongst their own labels, but there is a lot of over-priced and ordinary wine too. When was the last time you really enjoyed the wine in the Qantas lounge? It's been supplied by Cellarmasters for a few years now, I either drink beer or spirits instead most times I travel now.
Service: I was a member for several years (I refused to pay membership fees and they quickly capitulated) and still have some of their own-label reds from 96-98 vintages that are drinking well. I ceased to be a member when it appeared their prices were increasing faster than the quality and I found myself sending back more than I was keeping, it just got too hard to pick the gems from the dross.
For those that like the convenience of regular buying plans and are happy with the general quality, here are a few hints to save you money:
-
Decline to pay membership fees, why should you pay for them to sell you wine? If they don't give in, join the David Jones version instead, it's free.
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Don't be afraid to send wine back if you don't like it, it's simple and easy. If you think a wine is faulty, just email them or call them with the details and you'll get a credit.
-
Hold some comparative tastings with other widely available wines in similar price-points and check that you do indeed prefer the CM wines, don't just buy by habit, there are a lot of good wines out there at good prices in the current market climate and CM with a captive market is likely to try and maintain or increase their prices when others are dropping or on special for a time.
Cloudwine
Melbourne-based retailer with a store in South
Melbourne
Site: Nicely done, loads quite fast, easy to navigate.
Differentiators: Small-maker specialist
Range: Wide range of smaller-makers from Australia and some NZ wineries.
Prices: Mostly with the pack (where I can compare), often less than CD for other wines, some full-case discounts sharpen the prices to very good, "free" freight and insurance for orders over $200 or over $300 for WA/NT.
Service: Very good, personal service, listed wines usually in stock and delivered quickly, willing to try and source wines on request. A good alternative to joining a lot of winery mailing lists and a good place to pick up smaller quantities of unusual wines to try rather than mixed cases from the wineries directly.
Dan
Murphy
Melbourne-origin
national retailer owned by
Woolworths, stores in Vic, ACT
and NSW.
Site: Pretty basic, mostly confined to pdf format lists of weekly/other specials for download. They try to lock you in to a single location via cookies, but you can clear them out easily enough and use the site to compare offerings in different states (or let me do it and go to my RBG page for the weekly highlights).
Differentiators: "We'll match any advertised price" policy, large range of weekly specials - some very good, large range in-store, regular tastings.
Range: Limited to specials lists online, large range in-store.
Prices: The bulk of the stock, especially most of the premium wine section has prices on the high side, with a few exceptions, as is noted in the RBG page as I see them. Weekly and other periodic sale specials can be very good if you pick the right one (eg 12 for the price of 10 sales), however the prices oscillate with bewildering frequency and there are odd differences in prices for the same wine across the eastern capital stores. If I want a wine that is in stock in Canberra, but advertised cheaper in Melbourne I've asked for (and received, after some reluctance) a price match on their own stores advertised prices! You can order by fax, with free freight in locations near stores, fairly reasonable freight elsewhere.
I've found it hard to use the price match policy on a quite few occasions as the Canberra (Belconnen) store seems to be falling 1-2 vintages behind the current release in quite a few premium wines so I can't get often get a price match for new releases advertised in Sydney or Melbourne. Sometimes the new release is held out the back pending sale of the prior vintage, but is available if you ask for it. There are sometimes in-store specials not advertised in the press or on-line, they like to keep you visiting.
Service: In-store service is good in the Belconnen store, Adam Vart the Fine Wine manager is very helpful.
Get Wines
Direct
Melbourne/Brisbane-based retailer with web site
and email offers.
Site: Fairly basic, but works well and is quite fast. Secure online ordering.
Differentiators: Mostly cleanskins, but some labelled lots as well, including the occasional premium wine like Xanadu Lagan Estate. Money-back gurantee, freight inclusive prices.
Range: Small, mostly cleanskins.
Prices: Seem to be commensurate with quality for the cleanskins I've bought, some of the labelled wine prices are very good, I bought 6 Xanadu lagan Estate 99 @ $39.95/btl.
Service: Good, prompt delivery, haven't had to return anything yet.
Jim's
Cellars
Sydney-based retailer with new web site.
Site: Fairly basic, but works well and is quite fast. Secure online ordering.
Differentiators: Print adverts claim they are the cheapest on the web, but they aren't for most wines, nothing to make them really stand out.
Range: Fairly limited, mostly mainstream brands.
Prices: Advertised prices are mostly similar to the rest of the independent Sydney internet retailers, a few very good prices. Freight charges apply unless you are in Sydney and buy 2 or more cases.
Service: I haven't bought here.
Kemeny's
Sydney-based large independent
retailer with web site and email/print offers.
Site: Very basic, mostly an electronic version of the glossy mail catalogue and pdf versions of current adverts. No online ordering, only phone/fax.
Differentiators: Specials and bonuses of various types. Some very good offers in catalogues and adverts.
Range: Limited online, much more in-store. I'd probably buy more if they had their full stock list on-line.
Prices: Advertised prices are mostly similar to the rest of the independent Sydney/Melbourne internet retailers, but quite a few very good prices, especially if you are interested in the bonuses offered.
Service: Very good.
Kirra Beach
Hotel
Queensland-based hotel and wine
retailer with web site.
Site: Not very pretty, but works well and is quite fast. Secure online ordering.
Differentiators: "Specialised" range online, freight included for orders over $200 (eastern capitals + Adelaide), willing to negotiate prices for frequent buyers.
Range: Fairly extensive and some interesting wines.
Prices: Used to be fairly competitive, but change of ownership saw prices increase, haven't bought there since. A few good prices if you look hard enough, I don't bother very often.
Service: Was a bit below par under previous management, no recent experience.
Nick's Vintage
Direct
Melbourne-based retailer with several stores,
web site and email offers.
Site: Comprehensive and works well. Secure online ordering.
Differentiators: Large range, lots of information and tasting notes (including past vintages), idiosyncratic scores and reviews. Free delivery for orders over $200 to Melb (or 12 bottles or more), Sydney, Brisbane, ACT. Quick listing of new releases, some exclusive wines.
Range: Extensive.
Prices: Advertised prices are similar to the rest of the independent Melbourne internet retailers since they have ramped up to the same me-too level, a few very good prices.
Service: Very good.
Online
Cellar
Adeaide-based web site.
Site: Fairly basic, limited search options. Secure online ordering. Random-order listings.
Differentiators: None apparent, "membership" may offer better prices.
Range: Fairly extensive, mostly mainstream, lot of premium wines listed as previous vintage and/or sold-out without current vintage replacements. PDF stock list is dated Sept 02.
Prices: On the high side, a few exceptions, enough to make me check occasionally. Freight on the high side.
Service: Good, but only one purchase.
Next - The Final Instalment
All the T's, V's and W's, Tasting Room, Vineyard Cellars, Vintage Cellars, Wine Ezy, Winebizz, WineLife, Winepool, WineStar
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