Price Check: 2005 Protocolo Tinto and 2006 Bodegas Borsao Campo de Borja Red

Bodegas Borsao, Jorge Ordonez, Larchmont Wine & Spirits, Price Check, Protocolo Tinto, Whole Foods

We haven’t done a Price Check for a while, and we’re coming back with a doozy. We spotted what should be two Spanish budget wines at Whole Foods this afternoon. And by budget we mean one digit, excluding decimal places.

Why we’re surprised that they were marked up unreasonably at Whole Foods, we don’t know. Maybe we were simply hoping that there’d be something at Whole Foods with a simple Local Wine Store (LWS) mark-up, since we know many of you shop there, even for wine (tsk, tsk).

The two wines we saw were both imports care of Jorge Ordonez:

The first is the 2005 Protocolo Tinto, a Tempranillo that averages $5.99 to $6.99 on Wine-Searcher (only one retailer lists it at $8.99).

The second wine is the 2006 Bodegas Borsao, a Grenache that from the Campo de Borja region that appears to also be going for $5.99 to $6.99 from the bulk of retailers listed online (the highest Wine-Searcher listing is for $7.99).

We should note that both of these wines were each about a dollar less a year ago, but exchange rates have left the prices rising just a bit.

Prices at Whole Foods?

$9.99 a bottle for the Protocolo (NB, 2005 is not the current vintage and therefore should not subject to the aforementioned price increases).

$8.99 a bottle for the Borsao.

Those are 43% and 33% premiums, respectively, for these two bottles over normal full-bump retail (if we’ve done our math incorrectly feel free to weigh in…).

This is really a shame, because in general Whole Foods has a decent wine selection that is far better than the average grocery store. It certainly would be convenient to shop for high quality groceries and decent wine all in one place. Right now, though, convenience is the only reason to buy at Whole Foods.

As a consumer you have a choice: $11.98 for these two bottles of wine at places like Larchmont Wine & Cheese or John & Pete’s in Los Angeles, compared to $18.98 for the same two bottles of wine at Whole Foods.

FYI, the savings provided will net you enough cash for a gallon and a half of gas, which will easily get you from the Whole Foods 3rd and Fairfax location to either of these wine shops, a couple of miles away (and back again a dozen times).

what's all this, then?

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