Winebits 423: Kroger wine, direct shipping, Bordeaux
by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On
? The big get richer: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kroger wants to contract management of its wine and beer departments to Southern Wine & Spirits, the biggest distributor in the country, so that the grocer doesn’t have to worry about buying or stocking the shelves. If accurate, this represents another significant change in the way we buy wine and the choices we get when we do. For one thing, Kroger is one of the biggest wine retailers in the country, and has paid for political campaigns to allow supermarket wine sales in many states, including Texas. Second, Southern could favor its brands over those of other distributors, giving its products better shelf space. Third, and the story isn’t clear on this, producers would have to pay Southern for the privilege of having it manage the shelves, and how many small producers could afford to pay those fees? I’m going to follow this story, because if it happens, other big retailers will follow, and our wine-buying lives will get that much more difficult.
? Rapid growth: The direct shipping market — wine sold to consumers directly from the winery and the only exception to the three-tier system — grew eight percent last year, to almost $2 billion. Which is a lot, though some perspective is needed: the U.S. wine market totaled about $39 billion in sales in 2014, so direct shipping represents less than five percent of the total. In addition, direct sales are focused on consumers in just five states, and one of them is California, where shipping costs are less of a factor. Also, the cost of the average bottle sold directly is $38, which means most U.S. wine drinkers are priced out of the DTC market. (And a tip o’ the Curmdgeon’s fedora to Steve McIntosh at Winethropology for sending this my way.)
? Cheap by whose standards? The Wine Curmudgeon has long advocated that Bordeaux’s sales problems in the U.S. are a function of price, and this gem from the Village Voice demonstrates that nothing has changed. It touts the value in the current vintages of Bordeaux, yet only one of the eight wines in the story costs less than $25, a $17 bottle from what’s called a satellite appellation — a lesser region of Bordeaux. To add insult to injury, the story says it’s difficult to find satellite appellation wines because they usually don’t have scores and you will have to consult a “Bordeaux connoisseur.” Yeah, like most wine drinkers have a Bordeaux connoisseur in their phone. And aren’t we done with scores yet?
Back in the day, I worked for Gallo, and we did all of the stocking, dusting, signage, and general hard labor involved with getting the stuff into the storeroom.Sometimes i had to take down a previous end cap, roll it away, and then get the Gallo display in place. We did it all. Took me a few years to not walk into a store and front the Gallo bottles.
Just like I used to do when I wrote books that were in bookstores — turn them to face the aisle.