Restaurantonly allocation

I've termed the practice of using a highly desired wine to move other wine as "bundling".

Here's how it worked when I represented DeGrazia in Maryland ans worked for the wholesaler:

First To get 5 cases of Altare normale Barolo, 3 cases of Vigna Arborina & Larigi and 2 cases of Barolo Arborina, we had to also buy 12 cases of barbera and dolcetto.

Then we pbutted this on to the retail accounts-- for every case of Barolo normale, riserva and super tavola wines they took they had to take a barbera or dolcetto. If that was not acceptable depending on the account we either pbutted on the sale or came to an alternate configuration with other products we needed to move. The same pattern applied in Tuscany with Brunello-Chianti Riservas and Super Tuscans being the draws. Now this doesn't seem so bad after you've had an Altare dolcetto or a Clerico barbera, they weren't exactly shoe-polish. Retail accounts are notorious "cherry-pickers" and can put you out of business if you deal with exporters-wineries who also practice bundling. I always priced the lesser wines at a lower markup so they moved, making up the loss at the other end. A consumer who'll pay $75 for a 95 point Abbondanza Riserva will pay $80 especially if there is only 5 cases in the whole state!

-- Joe "Beppe" Rosenberg