Who sets the wine’s price…The PR Guy of Course
I traveled to meet with a client yesterday, to taste their wines, talk to them about the progress of their first wines and to go over marketing. The wines will be released in November.
About halfway through the conversation I brought up the issue of pricing, which hadn’t been settled. They said,"What do you think they should be priced at?"
–It’s chardonnay and Pinot (mainly Pinot)
–It’s clearly will be wine that is near the best of their region
–They will start with 2 wines with case production around 300 cases each
–Total production will eventually grow to 2000 cases with 4 wines
–While not in it, the grapes come from a region adjoining a well know Pinot region
–The winemaker is well known in the trade and has made GREAT wine in the past
–The owner doesn’t NEED to make a profit
–The wine will be sold primarily direct and directly to retailers and restaurants (no distributor)
–No tasting room
–No new winery (warehouse winery)
–French oak on all the wine, but not excessive.
Let me just be clear, by industry standards this wine could be justifiably priced at anywhere between $20 to $70 a bottle.
Can anyone guess my recommendation? What would your recommendation be?
Given the specifics, I’d guess that you are probably wouldn’t price it above $50 and that it would probably be in the $30—$40 range since it is being sold primarily to retailers and restaurants.