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Monte Bello Collector Program

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Clint Hall

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Monte Bello Collector Program

by Clint Hall » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:00 am

Got a form letter from Paul Draper today, the gist of which is Ridge "will continue to offer [Monte Bello] futures, but only to members of the [apparently new] Monte Bello Collector Program....If you sign up now, " continues Draper, "the amount of your most recent futures order becomes your standing reservation. (...this is a reservation [he adds]. There is no obligation.)" And attached is a form to be filled out to enroll in the program.

Well, I guess there's nothing to lose. Last year I ordered six bottles so evidently if I sign up I can order up to six in the future but have no obligation to do so. The way I see it is it's hard to go wrong with Monte Bello futures as they are always considerably cheaper than the wine is on release. So if you don't like them you can easily flip or trade, although I don't recall a Monte Bello I didn't like.

(MB futures were $60 for the 2005s, $80 for the 2006s.)
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Jenise » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:32 pm

Dang. I didn't get that letter, I don't think, but I am on Ridge's mailing list for broader topics, and the last thing we got caused my husband to ask why we never buy Monte Bello. The answer to that was, I hardly know, I can think of no California wine I like or admire more, and yet I've only ever bought like two bottles. From the sound of the letter you received, it sounds like now or never for me.
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Clint Hall » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:49 pm

Jenise wrote:Dang. I didn't get that letter, I don't think, but I am on Ridge's mailing list for broader topics, and the last thing we got caused my husband to ask why we never buy Monte Bello. The answer to that was, I hardly know, I can think of no California wine I like or admire more, and yet I've only ever bought like two bottles. From the sound of the letter you received, it sounds like now or never for me.


It does sound like a "now or never" letter, actually for me not just a futures now or never but MB now or never as I don't plan ever to pay their considerably higher release price.
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Max Hauser » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Clint Hall wrote:... Ridge "will continue to offer [Monte Bello] futures, but only to members of the [apparently new] Monte Bello Collector Program... There is no obligation.)"

Here's a little more about that (from a fellow Monte Bello fan). Calling the regulars a "collector program" is not quite new, but recent. For some 45 years this wine has been offered to anyone interested. When the new US clamor over cult wines and mailing lists and "flipping" emerged in the 1990s it apparently overlooked this wine despite relentless tasting recommendations, articles, international esteem. Every year a pre-arrival offer came out, lasting at least March to May, with a couple of public tastings at the winery along the way as parcels were assembled for the final wine; if you order then, you get a price break but it's delivered a couple of years later. I'm accustomed to ordering in May after tasting the final "assemblage." The offering did not normally sell out before then. The first time I did this was with the 1980 vintage; that futures order remained available all summer, which wasn't unusual.

Abruptly in late March 2006, the 2005 vintage pre-arrival offer sold out way ahead of usual. The 80 or so longtime customers got notices that the winery had saved them some wine (thanks!) and they were now classed as "collectors," a status also offered to all future pre-arrival purchasers. This year (2006 vintage) the early sell-out did not recur -- 06 had higher quantities too if I remember. But it seems now that a lot of people want it, a lot more people want it as a result.* Go figure. It could also be that the "flippers" are finally a problem here too.

You can always buy the wine on the regular release a couple of years later at a higher price (I've done that too); good quantities are released then, and also you're more likely then to have tasting information or opportunities before you buy.


* (In case you ever needed another argument for finding good wines when not everyone else wants them.)
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Clint Hall » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:46 pm

That's interesting, Max.

Yes, you can always buy the wine on release a couple of years later at a higher price. To put this in perspective, 2005 futures sold for $60, 2006 for $80, and the most recent release, 2004, is listed on Wine Searcher Pro for $100 to $200, stateside. (I think the 2005 will be released shortly.)

And yes it is strange that Monte Bello hasn't achieved the price levels of some of its competitors. In what-are-your-favorite-Cali-Cab pols, it seems to be ranked in many or most top fives. Anyhow, in recent years it's the only one I've been buying.
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Max Hauser » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:01 pm

MB also is a famously slow-developing wine, not always approachable when first bottled (when even many other serious Cabernets have charms, even if they later shut down for a few years to develop). Very longtime MB fans I know who are well into their 60s, have quipped -- and they weren't joking -- that they'd have to stop buying MB on sheer human life-span probabilities. (Being accustomed to using these wines starting at 15-20 years of age.)
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Re: Monte Bello Collector Program

by Max Hauser » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:19 pm

Clint Hall wrote:it is strange that Monte Bello hasn't achieved the price levels of some of its competitors.

I should mention Clint that this is part of a larger observable phenomenon where California Cabernets well respected 20 or 30 years ago and still made (often with good aging track records too) have not price-appreciated like far newer Cabernets (where the label "cult" is more common) with even limited aging history to indicate how they'll do over time. Here's the full text of something I wrote a year and a half ago with data. (Excerpted by MSNBC.com during the "Paris tasting anniversary" publicity.)

25 or more years ago, US wine writers grumbled about a trend to double-digit California Cabernet prices. Another digit has crept in since then.

About 25 years ago (I just checked) I paid $8 for current-release Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V., $9 for Raymond, $12 for Clos du Val, and $19 for BV "Georges de Latour Private Reserve," 1976 (which by the way, drank excellently a year ago). Also $15.00 for Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet (ordered pre-release), which isn't from Napa, but is inseparable from leading old- school California Cabernets.

With a nominal inflation factor (CPI) of 2.23 since 1981, equivalent 2006- dollar prices above would be $18, $20, $27, $42, and $33. Obviously some old- school Cabernets have risen more, but not always much. (The BV and Ridge for example have sold lately for twice the 1981 price, inflation-adjusted.)

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