Chicken Little was Right … The Sky is Falling… The Sky is Falling Along with Wine and Nasdaq

Finally.. A Wine Gadget that Makes Sense – Saves Money and is Good for the Environment

Wine Prices

In the last issue, I predicted a drop in wine and premium champagne prices in the fall but that it would not particularly affect Australian and low-end wines.  I was dead wrong on every count.
 

In a recent survey of retail wine outlets, I have noted a flurry of price promotions at every level….right now. Top champagnes such as Taittinger and Veuve Cliquot are already being offered at prices 20% down from recent weeks. Dom Perignon can be found widespread at $80. Look for further reductions. 

Many mid range California wines are being promoted at $6 or more off regular pricing. But amazingly these types of reductions are also taking place throughout the entire wine spectrum except at the very top as reported previously. 

Highly respected Napa Ridge and Columbia Crest, perhaps the value leaders worldwide are on sale. Drinkable Australian wine is on the shelves for under $6. 

If you are a serious Chardonnay drinker, the most attractive value to come along in years is from top Australian vintner Rosemount Estates.  Their 1999 Hunter Valley Show Reserve normally sells for $16. You can find it now for $9 with the 10% case discount.  Aged for another 2-4 years, it will compare favorably with names like Far Niente, Grgich Hills, Chateau Montelena and Trefethen, all of which are priced 3 times higher. Beringer is also out there with some important price reductions.

Speaking of Aging

While there are a lot of myths associated with wine, aging is not a myth. Most wines do improve dramatically with age even most white wines. You will rarely get the most out a wine if you drink it right off the store shelf. If you are slightly serious but don’t want to invest in a wine cellar. Here are a few tips.

Keep your better wines that you plan to age in the darkest coolest place in the house.  That generally means on the floor in a closet with a wall that does not get the sun.  Avoid at all costs displaying your wine on a counter in one of those showy wrought iron or wooden ornamental racks unless it is White Zinfandel, which nothing can save. Light and heat are wines worst enemies. If you want to impress with your wine collection, save the corks of consumed bottles, fill them with Kool Aid. Then put them on those dreaded racks that you received as a gift, in a very visible high but inaccessible place. Bring the wine you are going to serve from the closet in another room, People may think you actually have a thermostatically controlled cellar.

However, if you want to be serious about aging and you should, you can have an impressive thermostatically controlled wine cellar that may hold up to 100 bottles with a little creativity and the purchase of The Wine-Stat for $149.

You will need an old but operating refrigerator or freezer. You may have one in the garage with which you couldn’t part. You may be contemplating a new and modern frig. If neither is a


Simple Rack Built into Refrigerator

current option, you might be able to pick up a working unit for $25-50 at a thrift shop or junkyard. In either case you will have made a contribution to the environment by preserving landfill and preventing old Freon from entering the atmosphere.

All you do then is plug the frig into The Wine-Stat, plug the Wine-Stat into the wall and place the bottle sensor inside the frig. Set the desired temperature on the exterior monitor. You now have a real wine cellar.

Depending upon the configuration of the appliance you use, stack the wine on the existing shelves or build a simple rack as shown with plans that come with the Wine Stat. Or an even easier approach is to buy 3 ˝ or 4” plastic irrigation pipe and cut them into 10 “ lengths and stack them in the refrigerator.  Most wine bottles should fit into these pipes. 

For ordering and further information call 800-973-9707. Ask for Bill.