Shoppers put stopper in pricey wine sales

Oenophiles opt for less expensive varieties as economy corks spending
 
 
Beth Ribblett, co-owner of Swirl, a wine shop on Ponce de Leon Street near the Fair Grounds, has noticed customers lately making made a bee line to a particular section of her store.

The rush was so pronounced over the holiday season, traditionally the busiest in the wine business, that there was difficulty in keeping the “Cheap and Tasty” section filled with bottles selling for less than $10.

“We could not keep enough in stock,” Ribblett said of the bargain bottles, sold at a 10 percent discount when customers buy six or more.

Other wine vendors throughout the city similarly report that a cost-conscious bent has taken hold of consumers — that as the cloud grows grayer over the national economy, wine drinkers are more apt to forgo pricier labels and vintages in favor of less expensive varieties.

But consumers don’t appear to be giving up their wine habits altogether. Some vendors have even reported an increase in sales volume.

Jon Smith, owner of Cork and Bottle Fine Wines on Orleans Avenue in Mid-City, first started noticing customers shying away from pricier offerings several months ago.

Whereas in typical times, a customer might come into the store prepared to spend about $50 — $30 on a new selection and $10 each on two lower priced bottles — today “they are not experimenting nearly as much with more expensive wines in favor of buying more everyday priced, consume-me-now type wines,” Smith said.

He’s also noticed fewer people buying wine for collecting purposes. And this Christmas, Smith said, sales of corporate gifts were whittled significantly.

Still, growth in sales of cheaper bottles is helping offset those losses. Smith said the recently concluded holiday season marked his store’s best since 2004 in terms of overall spending.

“People are buying a lot smarter, but as this holiday season proved, (they’re) buying a lot more,” he said.

At The Wine Seller on Prytania Street, owner Ben Lazich said some customers continue to shell out the $50 to $200 commanded for high-end Napa Valley bottles bearing prestigious labels such as Duckhorn or Shafer. But such big-ticket items are a harder sell than in years past.

The change was apparent in December, Lazich said.

“A lot of stockbroker types that would come in (to buy wine for the holidays) were visibly not as happy as they were maybe a year ago,” Lazich said. “They still came in, but it was with caution.”

Some predict increasingly conservative consumer spending habits could make 2009 the year for the budget-minded oenophile.

Ribblett, for one, expects more restrained wine-shopping habits to cause retailers and distributors to stock lower-priced inventories and create new sales strategies

“People just aren’t as easily dropping the money on an expensive bottle of wine as they used to,” she said. “It’s definitely affecting the way I buy.”

Smith also said he plans to lower the average price per bottle at his store. He will stock pricier offerings but will “scrutinize intensely each selection that will hit my shelf for more than $25 to $30.

“The good thing,” he said, “is that there are myriad regions around the world (places such as Portugal, Argentina and Spain) that are producing outstanding value wines at everyday prices.”

Ribblett reported December sales were up at her store compared with the previous year — a result she credits in part with the relative newness of her shop that opened in June 2006. She said she finds reason for optimism at a time when retailers generally are struggling.

The wine business, she said, “is probably more recession-proof than a lot of other businesses because people continue to drink, but they want to drink at a better price point.”

Smith agreed.

“The thing about wine ... as the famous saying goes,” he said, “is that ‘in victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it.’”•