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PRICING & ECONOMY

that it’s what you need to spend, nor that gift was $200. Today it‘s about $250. Our eco-
you cannot exceed this number. The buying nomically healthiest piece is selling for $300.
economists recommended guideline for gifts It‘s a little bit more over the mental barrier, but
each year is 1.5% - 2% of your salary. If you’re it‘s an affordable price. To make a real joy, give
making $50,000/year, that puts you at $750 a great gift to a known wine lover, you go and
per year, OK. give that $300 for a really luxurious, classy gift.

That may not seem like a lot for some It‘s not snobbish, you don‘t show that you have
people. fat billfold. It‘s a fair price for an exclusive gift!
Statista 2021 reported that Boomers in the For the pleasure it causes. I must admit we have
United States spent an average of 123 U.S. no problem selling it! “
dollars on gift cards during the 2018 holiday If such a young lady from Vogue entered
season. This figure was almost 60 U.S. dollars a specialized wine shop today (and it is open),
higher than Millennials, who spent an average asking for the most expensive wine, the shop-
of 76 U.S. dollars on gift cards. The more inte- ping assistant or sommelier would probably
resting figure is, that people surveyed spent offer her Screaming Eagle. It seems to be the
59% of their holiday budget online in 2020! most expensive wine commonly sold in stores
And the average of Christmas gifts crossed the from current vintages. Of course, there are ar-
mystic border of 1000 USD! chival treasures included in the price of a nice
Promotions, discounts, and other offers vineyard, but I don‘t want to talk about them.
were the No. 1 thing people want from on- We still mean „normal“ good wine, three, four,
line retailers in return for sharing their perso- five years old.
nal information, among 61% of respondents
- while offers for preferential treatment like
faster customer service (34%) and faster chec-
kout (31%) a distant second and third, despite
56% of respondents feeling they have little
control over their consumer data.
It is good to know figures like this, if you
need to think about the right price level.
The right price question occurred to me
when I rented a car two years ago after jud-
ging at the San Francisco Wine Competition
and drove through California to visit some
wineries just after the fires. Even then, many
people already wore a mask - but for a diffe-
rent reason than today. There was a lot of smo-
ke everywhere.
We talked over a glass of extraordinary red
with a friend who was the director of one of
the most famous wineries. I will not name him
today because he is no longer there. I asked
him what people are saying about the prices While Cabernet Sauvignon might be the
of their wines, which were definitely not low. winery and region‘s iconic grape variety,
„It‘s extremely important to set the right price. Screaming Eagle‘s Sauvignon Blanc occupies
In our segment, the price must not be low or too the top spot, with an average price of $5974.
high. A few years ago, the mental barrier of the Its Cabernet Sauvignon fetches $3647 on
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