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Copyright 2010. Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant. All Rights Reserved. |
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HOW LOW CAN I BE? In mid-April I was interviewed by Gary Vaynerchuk on his video blog, Wine Library TV (watch the interview at blog.kermitlynch.com), and I mentioned how important value is when I am selecting wines to import. And that I am value-conscious myself—I’m not the type to spend hundreds of dollars on a young oaky Cabernet or Claret—because with each swallow I would be distracted by the sound of a cash register. I also claimed that French and Italian wines are great values in today’s market and asked viewers to respond to the question “Why do French wines have a reputation for being expensive?” Viewer JonE posted a reply:
Because......THEY ARE EXPENSIVE!!!!!! You couldn’t buy a bottle of Coche Dury anything for under $50 bucks! Cherisey $50+ all day long (even at WL, which has the best prices going). Kermit (living legend and all) is playing the biz game by proposing the idea that french wines in general aren’t expensive- lets be real, lets be honest, maybe 1 out of 25 wines in his portfolio is under $25. The man deals in ultra premium on the whole. I can’t fault his wines they’re fantastic, from low end Cheverney to his meursaults. But in all truth most of his wines ARE expensive. He can expound on their quality, but to be an ambassador of well made, small production, beautiful he must admit that this quality comes at a price. > BTW - great shows, thank you. I replied then to JonE, because he proves a point I like to make—people mistakenly think that French wines are expensive.
Hello JonE, thanks for your comments, but you are so wrong. I am going to count the number of under $20 and under $50 wines in my portfolio and write an answer to you in an upcoming brochure (newsletter). You’ll be amazed, I hope. Best, Kermit
Now I have had my staff run the figures on wines currently on our sales floor and, since not all my imports are always available, on wines we imported during the past year. The percentages were almost identical. JonE supposed that maybe 4% of my portfolio retails for less than $25. However, it turns out that about 7% of my selections are under $15! And 25% are under $20!! I bust my butt to offer good value, and I think those figures show it.
Here is a list of some current selections.
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