Something to drink to: lower wine prices

Sales of high-end wine are plummeting, according to wine merchants, and that means deals for oenophiles.

If you have the cash, the slump has created a unique opportunity to invest in First Growth Bordeaux and Burgundy Grand Cru vintages — among the elite of the wine world — said Steve Wallace, owner of Wally’s Wine & Spirits in Westwood.

The coveted 2005 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild from Bordeaux is languishing on store shelves for $549, an astronomical price for less than a liter of fermented grape juice. Still, that’s a bargain if you consider the wine was being sold for double the price just a few months ago.  The 2007 vintage sells for less, $383. Both vintages are highly rated by Bordeaux wine guru Robert Parker.  "These prices are from back in the 1980s," Wallace said. "I never thought I would see that."

Sales of wine for $9 or less make up the fastest-growing segment of the wine market, while sales above that price are starting to trend down, said Jon Fredrikson, an industry analyst in Woodside, Calif. Consumers are trading down to wine they consider "values," Fredrikson said.

Randy Kemner, owner of Wine Country in Signal Hill, is trying to get ahead of that trend. Last month, he went on a supermarket shopping spree, purchasing about 50 bottles of mass-market "corporate wines of the type we usually don’t sell." He and his staff tasted the wines and ...

selected two dozen to offer in the store as "recession busters" starting from $5.99 for FishEye Merlot to $14.99 for La Crema Chardonnay.

Armed with his sales receipts, Kemner demanded a price break from his distributors so that he could match supermarket prices and still make a profit. Kemner hopes the less expensive selection will take off as the holidays approach. Wine Country's sales were off 28% in October compared with a year ago. November sales are running 16% below last year’s figures, even after factoring in a bump-up around the presidential election earlier this month.

Diana Hirst also is pushing bargain wines at her Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. She’s looking for lower-priced wines from Spain, Argentina and Chile to fight off the slump in costlier selections.
"Every time the stock market takes a dive, we see a few slow days," she said.

Champagne and signature California reds such as the 2005 vintages of Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Joseph Phelps Bordeaux-style blend are particularly slow even though they are well-regarded wines, Hirst said.  Hi-Time Wine Cellars has cut its inventory by about 10% "and we have not hired for the holidays; we are all just going to work more hours," she said.

On the upside, getting rare bottles is a breeze these days. Hirst usually considers herself lucky if she can snag six bottles of $265 Araujo Napa Valley cult Cabernet Sauvignon to stock her shop. This year, she can get dozens.

—Jerry Hirsch

Photo: Diana Hirst holds a  $265 bottle of Araujo Napa Valley cult Cabernet Sauvignon at her Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa. She's had an easier time this year getting her hands on the wine from the Eisele Vineyard in Napa Valley.

Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times