Price Check: 2006 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc, California
Pomelo, Price Check, Sauvignon Blanc, Whole Foods
The 2006 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc wine is a really nice quaffer for its price. As the name would imply, the wine has a nose and even a palate that brings grapefruit to mind. It’s concocted by winemaker Randy Mason, and we think it makes a fantastic white for dinner parties, among other occasions. This is definitely buy-it-by-the-case stuff…well, at least if it’s priced right.
We happened upon this today at a particular supermarket, and were somewhat baffled by the price tag of $12.99. When we took a peek at Wine-Searcher, our suspicions of higher than normal mark-ups were confirmed. So here’s a rundown of where you can find the very delicious and drinkable 2006 Pomelo, and the corresponding prices:
Amazing Grapes Wine Store, Santa Margherita, CA: $7.98/bottle
The Wine Country, Signal Hill, CA: $8.99/bottle
Varietal Wines & Spirits, Manhasset, NY: $9.59/bottle
Spiritus Wines, Hartford, CT: $10.99/bottle
The Corkscrew Wine Emporium, Springfield, IL: $12.99/bottle
Whole Foods Market, 3rd and Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA: $12.99/bottle
We’ll give any retailer on the East Coast or Midwest a pass on the pricing here, since the local nature of the product helps keeps prices on the lower end in California. We’ll give some major props to Varietal Wines and Spirits in Manhasset for offering the wine at a more than reasonable tariff. Again, with a full pallet of the stuff on the floor, likely quantity discounts from the vendor, and a reasonable wholesale cost to begin with, we have to ask Whole Foods how they can justify such a high mark-up.
This is a wine worth drinking. We encourage all of you to buy a case for your next party. Just not from a price-gouger like Whole Paycheck (we give The Corkscrew Wine Emporium a pass for geographic circumstances, and for being the sole Illinois retailer –with an internet presence, at least– stocking the product).
By the way, Whole Foods still has that Dehesa Gago Toro “on sale” for $12.99, so it looks like there’s been a bit of trouble moving the wine. Maybe if they’d priced it correctly from the outset their luck would have been better?
3 Responses to “Price Check: 2006 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc, California”
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From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
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February 7th, 2008 at 8:19 am
This is my huge party pick for spring and summer–every year for 4 years. Having a big Q and need sipping wine? Can’t do better than this, although I’m going to TRY to branch out this year and get something different.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I *love, love, love* Pomelo! We used to carry it until the distributor jacked the price prohibitively - we could not justify a $3/bottle increase for our customers. It’s too bad because the wine had a huge following. Just to put it into perspective from a small East Coast retailer standpoint: If we sold the wine and priced it off of front line (which we would obviously do), we’d have to sell it for $14.99. If we were able to buy it at the 4 case discount and price it off of the discount price (something a large store might do, but not a small retailer), the price would be $11.99. So stores aren’t necessarily marking it way up. If we sold it for $14.99, we’d just be making the standard mark-up, and nothing more.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Dr. Debs and Carol, thanks for your comments. Carol, that’s interesting…the pricing really varies tremendously based on geographic location. In California, the frontline with full mark-up puts the wine at $11 a bottle. With a discount (on 5 cases) it goes down to $10. Considering Whole Paycheck had at least 30 cases stacked in one store alone, $12.99 seems unreasonable.
As a small retailer myself, I’m far too familiar with having to price things slightly higher than the larger outlets. As you had to with the Pomelo, sometimes it results in not being able to carry a product you really like.