There is a lot of marketing bs in the world and the wine world in particular. It is how someone can sell a "wine" for under $10, when the packaging and shipping of an empty bottle would cost nearly that much. If you don't wonder what is actually in the bottle, best of luck to you. Eric Asimov, of the New York Times, describes a different process in the world of quality wine, "What separates these winemakers from the vast majority is an utter dedication to the rigors of making wine without artificial enhancements. Just as it is easier to sell tuna made rosy with chemicals than in its natural state, it is easier to shape a wine with technology to meet current desires for power and concentration than it is to sell a light, delicate wine. It is easier to preserve wine with high doses of sulfites than to worry about sanitary conditions in cellars. To make wine naturally is labor-intensive and expensive. Cellars must be absolutely clean, and wines must be stored, shipped and sold properly so that they do not spoil."

Last week, a retailer expressed interest in Farmstead Wines. After a brief telephone conversation, I sent him a copy of our wholesale portfolio...below follows the remainder of our email exchange.

Thank you Anthony,
I appreciate the list.

At first blush, the majority of the wines all seem to be a bit higher end and not the retail price points to move volume, ie cases vs. bottles. Are you adding to this or are there other opportunities to find wines which wholesale between $8 and $15 for example?

Hi Seth,

You are exactly right. All of the wines are a bit "higher end." They truly are rare, artisan wines- not artificial scarcity or marketing bs. Each farmer is a master of their craft, farming entirely without synthetic chemicals or pesticides. Almost all of the work in each vineyard is done by hand, by the farmers themselves. In the cellar, the wines are not manipulated- fermentations are with natural yeasts, there are no enzymes or tannin powders, wines are bottled with little-to-no filtration and the lowest possible amount of sulfites (in every instance under 50 ppm compared to the 100ppm-500ppm in most wines). Making wine this way is labor intensive, but also requires the utmost care, skill and dedication.

It is not possible to make wine this way for $8. Even at the $15 price point where we do move "volume," there is not much wine. For example, 2007 Renato Fenocchio Dolcetto, which is wholesale priced at $14.99, there were only 3000 bottles made and 2000 of those were imported for all of the U.S. and Canada. Given the level of quality, the prices are a bargain compared to most wine.

There will regularly be wines at or near the $15 price point, but these will still be in limited quantities.

Chimo,

Anthony