Originally Posted by
lhgreengrd1
BTW, Wineries that sell direct often do so because they can charge HIGHER prices than they could if they went through distribution channels. Buying from places like The Wine Club and Costco is invariably cheaper than buying direct from wineries. Of course, the wineries that sell predominantly off of their mailing list are putting most of their efforts into maintaining an air of exclusivity to justify their pricing.
Well that isn't true for the wineries from which we order our wine. I've yet to discover any wholesaler that typically offers the wines we buy for less than we've paid--except for a few auctions or other distributor offers that are usually years later than the original release. Most of our wines are of pretty limited production, often because the wineries have such low yields that are required to bolster the fruit quality. We've never seen the wines we order at Costco (where we are members).