Wine Prices Slashed; This Offer Won’t Last

By JORDAN MACKAY

WHAT do you consider a bargain in wine? Ten percent off? Twenty? How about 40? That was the discount that Wines Til Sold Out offered recently on 2006 Chateau Angelus, a top Bordeaux that was being sold for nearly $100 off its original price of about $250.
Prices that seem too low to be true are typical of the dozen or so flash wine sale sites that have popped up over the last two years. The sites offer limited amounts of wines at discounts that are shockingly steep but highly temporary. Typically each sale lasts for no more than a day or two before the sand in the hourglass runs out.
“The deals are usually screaming,” said Jim Barnyak, a Seattle financial manager and frequent shopper of such sites. “Deals that any wine store can’t come close to touching.” Early each morning, Mr. Barnyak checks for e-mails alerting him to the next hot sale. “Sometimes you have to respond within 15 minutes to get the really good bargain.”
In just a few years, the flash wine market has grown to about $100 million in annual sales, about 25 percent of the overall online wine market, according to an estimate by the wine industry consulting firm VinTank. Whether it can sustain that gangbuster pace is far from clear. Many industry veterans predict that the glut will dry up in the next year or so and that winemakers will be straightening their clothes and glancing around to see if anyone noticed that they’d participated in anything so undignified as deep-discounting.
But out of desperation can come opportunity. Some in the wine industry say that flash sites may outlive the surplus that brought them into existence and prove themselves useful in other ways. The sites have “brought new customers into the space, and boosted their comfort level in buying wine online,” said Michael Greenlee of the Napa-based wine consultancy Amedeo.
And for producers, flash sites might turn out to be a sophisticated sales team, giving customers information about the wines — and winemakers information about the customers. Until recently, wineries rarely had problems selling their bottles to a public with mounting thirst. But as a result of the recession and a consolidation of distributors that has made it tougher for wineries to get their products into stores, some winemakers have watched entire vintages stack up.
Enter the flash sites. A welcome pressure valve for the industry, flash sales have allowed wineries, particularly at the middle and higher end, to unload huge numbers of bottles in staggeringly short times, albeit at drastically reduced prices. Not long ago, WineAccess blew out the better part of 700 cases — 8,400 bottles — of 2006 Keenan Merlot in under 24 hours. The profits on such sales may be small or nonexistent, but at least they give the wineries cash to pay for the next vintage’s barrels and grapes.
Even in the depths of the recession, though, many in the industry were powerfully averse to slashing prices.
Jack Stuart, the winemaker for Benessere Vineyards in Napa Valley, recalled that, after he had sold some wine through a flash site, the owner of the site talked about establishing a long-term relationship.
“I sort of laughed to myself, thinking ‘This is not a sustainable business model,’ ” he said. “There’s no way we could afford to sell a significant proportion of our production this way.”
As the recovery creeps forward, resistance to slashing prices is apt to grow. Gary Vaynerchuk, the online wine marketing phenomenon behind Wine Library and Wine Library TV, predicts that the wine surplus will last longer than some producers expect, but that eventually “things will go back to normal.” When that happens, he said, flash sites will be forced to evolve, and some will probably not survive. Their style of doing business may make the difference.
Most flash sites operate under one of two models. Some are retailers, negotiating tremendous discounts, buying the wines either directly from the winery or through wholesalers, and then fulfilling the orders themselves. Mr. Vaynerchuk’s Cinderella Wine is in this category, as is Wines Til Sold Out. These sites tend to feel like online analogues of stores like Costco — cavernous and devoid of personality, but exuding a no-nonsense, deep-discount vibe.
The other model for a flash site is the marketing agent that sells wine but never takes possession of it, leaving the hassles of shipping legalities and order fulfillment to the wineries. These sites, like Wine.Woot and Lot18, specialize in “hand-selling” bottles, in part by educating consumers about the wineries.
Many in the wine industry say that in the post-surplus world, these sites are better positioned to succeed because they can help wineries build their brands, communicate directly and creatively with customers, and create interactive communities of buyers.
Wine.Woot, the first flash site, which made its debut in May 2006, offers literary narratives to accompany its daily 24-hour deals. (A recent sale of Riverbench pinot noir fronted a hard-boiled scenario that began, “It was a cold, gray night in Baghdad by the Bay. … A thick fog hung on anything foolish enough to be outside, but I had more pressing worries. There, in the doorway to my office, stood the Riverbench Winery Estate Pinot Noir 4-Pack gang.”) Each sale is accompanied by a “vintner voice mail” with the winemaker talking about the bottle. Winemakers also chat online throughout the day with Wine.Woot’s highly active and engaged community.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/dining/13flash.html?_r=2

The wines of Yats Wine Cellars are designed for the matured wine lovers looking for wines that are interesting, not necessarily impressive, and at a fair price that is usually below those of a comparable big names, and from a matured vintage from 20 years or older. There are over 2000 selections of wine at Yats that fit that description.

If Philippines is part of an upcoming travel and holiday plan, wine lovers might want to visit Clark Freeport Zone just 70 minutes from Manila. This bustling new city that is slated to replace Manila as the new capital of the Philippines has the largest wine shop called Clark Wine Center. Vintages span over a century and the selection of old- and new-world wines covers all major wine regions are all available at this top-rated wine shop near Manila. Pampanga Philippines is a fast growing province. Growth in major cities such as San Fernando, Angeles City and Clark Freeport Zone has given rise to a strong demand for luxury goods, upscale dining and quality living. Absence of a good wine shop for fine vintage wine has caused considerable inconvenience to the affluent community which is forced to drive down to Manila to purchase their wines.

Yats Wine Cellars is generally regarded by Asian and Philippines wine lovers as the best wine supplier in the Philippines. This Wine Shop in Clark Philippines releases very rare wines for wine lovers in Asia.

Wine lovers from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia travel to Philippines Clark Freeport to purchase these limited rare bottles of fine vintage wine.

Leading Philippines wine supplier known for its line of fine vintage wines, Yats Wine Cellars was established in 2000 to address the requirement of a growing population of wine enthusiasts in the Philippines. Yats Wine Cellars caters to the discerning client who requires these qualities in their wines: (1) excellent value, (2) large selection of labels and vintages to choose from and (3) wines properly aged for full enjoyment.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila
Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple: after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave. From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City. From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.

Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.
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While in Clark, it might be a good idea to enjoy an evening of wine-and-dine in the fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar that features an award winning 2700-line wine list. It is located in Mimosa Leisure Estate of Clark Freeport Zone. For more information, visit http://www.YatsRestaurant.com

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Looking for famous tourists spots, places to visit and see, relax and unwind in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines? You may want to check out these sites also:

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http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.YatsWineCellars.com