Just picked up the pieropan soave classico. Great recommendation.

@12:24 😆

This was a good one, very interesting, thank you.

Awesome to learn the history of Seagrams Chateau & Estates and your experience with the company. Thank you 🍷

Impressive knowledge and collection... thank you!

I bet all the higher ups are still doing fine

Interesting and shocking but hardly surprising news Tom. You have talked about the crisis in wine and that is a long term problem. There is far too much wine being produced and the prices of good wine have been steadily increasing. We might live in wealthy countries but that does not mean most people are wealthy. Far from it. The very rich will buy the mega expensive stuff and then we're left with what an increasingly disinterested middle class can afford. Here in the U.K, a couple with a joint income of £50,000 after tax, a huge mortgage at 6% interest and a couple of kids simply can't buy bottles of decent wine that cost £30 a bottle. Instead they buy cheaper, not very good wine which hardly encourages an interest. Young people are turning off alcohol and don't like the taste of cheap wine so they're looking for other stuff to drink. All of this is happening to the backdrop of more and more global wine coming to market and fragmenting the old way of doing business. The biodynamic movement is also playing a part in this fragmentation. Here in the U.K it's the supermarkets that still shift the largest volumes of wine but they have cut down on premium stuff. Because of their power they can still get good price/quality mid range stuff but that's only bought by a small handful of wine appreciators. However, we have a very fine range of independent shops selling their own personal imported selections and they offer great service and knowledge as well as online sales. Many of them are run by Masters of Wine and attract good customer loyalty along with exclusive imports. The shop is a quality high street presence and they do tasting sessions and events. They are often suppliers to local businesses and restaurants too. Some of these businesses have fine provenance and have been very successful for decades or centuries and know how to ride out the good and bad times. Almost all of them sell spirits as well. I've written about the historical difference of the the wine market in the U.K and the U.S on other channels. The U.K has a long and sophisticated history of wine, albeit as an importer. We have way more Masters of Wine than any other country and countless private and sophisticated connoisseurs but it's extremely class based. Far more so than any other country. The U.S makes its own excellent wine and is far less hung up about wine and status in general; although it exists of course. Both countries (and many others) are facing a decline in popularity of wine but I think the U.K is in a better space to deal with the social and financial changes taking place in the world of wine.

does that mean cheaper prices ?

Well done video. Thank you 🍷. I always look forward to watching your videos because I know I am going to learn something new.

What does this mean for the wine consumer? Keep an eye out for barn burner deals? Find a local dealer and patron them more? I’ve also found I can buy wine directly from wineries at least in the States, so online retailers I’ve used more for international wines. Appreciate the channel and information.

Your videos are thoroughly enlightening! And Harry Chapin was an incredible human being! If climate change continues, and Bordeaux suffers a prolonged drought, do you feel this will cause a significant increase in the value of vintage Bordeaux’s?

Speaking of Bordeaux varietals, what are thoughts on 2016 Vineyard 29 Aida Estate Vineyards CS? Do you think that it is worth its heftt price tag in terms of its personality? I did find it for $160...

AttorneySomm and DrMatthewHorkey are two of my favorites, too! Along with NoSediment, I find their work very engaging and informative as someone who is a novice in wine appreciation.👍👍👍 I just found your channel recently and finding it helpful. 👏👏 Just one suggestion: not to tap the table with your hand or wrist watch on the edge of the table because your microphone picks it up really loudly.

Great summation of advice for maximizing wine appreciation!

At 6.29, the pic is Pichon Baron not Pichon Lalande. Great Pauillac too. Cheers from a French viewer 😊

Agreed Pichon Lalande is good, still waiting to let the 1986 to sleep for another 5-8 years

Would love to know if you prefer 1st growth second labels or “super second” wines

Thank you for the knowledge. I hope your health is well.

Hi Tom, I thought Mr. Grgich made the Chardonnay that won the Judgement of Paris?

Burgundy is dead. Prices in Bordeaux are crazy, but in Burgundy they are just fantasy. In 1998 I bought an Aloxe Corton Grand Cru for 50€. Now I find the same wine for 350€. Don't waste your time with Burgundy, you can find real Pinot Noir value in Germany, New Zealand, Chile and the USA without risking to pay a fortune for some mediocre wine......And I am a french patriot.

Nice video Tommy

I started collecting fine wines in the mid 80's. One of the problems for wineries today is that the beer industry started to make upscale beers like Imperial stouts such as Goose Island, etc. and the younger generation could get these and impress their friends for much less than fine wines. Canned liquor drinks are cutting into the market too. The Chinese helped drive up prices too when they became able to become business people. They drove up wildly the 2009 futures prices when their economy was flying high. Not so anymore...

$3 a pound of grapes in California where grapes grow like weed!?! It seems every grape-grower wants to be a famous winemaker, so the wine prices have collapsed, and many wineries are now out of business. So the general public is deprived of enjoying one of the nature's most popular and healthiest delicacy - GRAPES! Not too long ago you could buy grapes in season for 50c a pound - the lowest price now days is 3 times as much - $1.50 or more! Whose salary or pension/social security have tripled or quadrupled in the past few years?!? Nobody's!!!

Why are you going back 270 years (!) to find an answer to the suffering wine market?! The answers are simple. One would be (in the CONTEMPORARY world) the fact that Sommeliers would rather display their hierarchy of knowledge than put an understandable spin on how wonderful the beverage is! Secondary to that would be a situation where THERE ARE TOO MANY MIDDLEMEN, AND TOO MANY HANDS IN THE PIE. You figure out how to eliminate those circumstances, and you are off to a great restart! Then you take away the utterly ignorant OWNERS of retail outlets and replace them with friendly knowledgeable owners, and likely fantastic results would occur. Good luck!

I live in NYC and there’s still a really good local market for wine here. Tons and tons of boutique wine shops and wine bars, and they’re always full of young people. The only reason I got into wine was from moving to nyc and noticing how many boutique wine shops and wine bars there were near me. Not the same in the rest of the country of course.

Loving your videos Tom. Can I ask what you do for an occupation?

Yes, this is true. I know some people in the wine business. Sales are declining and this year has been particularly bad for them. I will be doing my part to help when I fo to the shop at the end of my street and pick up a shiraz or cab to go with the braised shortribs I'm eating tonight.

Do you think NAPA should sell their portfolio?- Duckhorn etc?

There does seem to be a perfect storm brewing for the wine industry. The youngest Baby Boomers are turning 60 this year so the industry can't rely on them to prop up sales forever. The Millennials and Gen-Z don't seem to have a lot of interest in wine. On top of that, the push away from alcohol in general keeps growing. We are now in Sober October and Dry January is coming up. Cannabis seems to be on the rise over alcohol and that will only increase if and when the federal government reschedules it. Finally, you've got a hollowing out of the middle class that leaves fewer people with the disposable income to purchase mid-priced, let alone higher priced, wines.

As the American economy is destroyed there will be less and less people who have the expendable money to puchase "expensive" wine. This applies for everything that relies on expendable income. Having said this, when a business see that they are overpricing the cunsumer and they do nothing about it, they deserve to go out of business. While you put the price of a "luxury wine" at $150, that is not a price that even slightly above middle class person can afford. The more and more this economy goes down hill and the more and more other types of individuals from other places help in the destruction of the coonomy, the less luxury wines will sell and the lower the price to be considered a luxury wine will go. Having said this, here is a question for you. If the wine industry is doing bad, why aren't the wineries dropping their prices? Go t the website of any winery and you will see the wineries are still charging crazy prices for not only their wines but a simple tasting. As a last thought, if wine sales are down, why are the wineries still charging crazy prices for the same wine you can buy in your local store for a heck of a lot cheaper?

Yep, spot on Tom. My expertise is Spanish wine and very few people there buy international wine. Most supermarkets or wine shops sell nothing else. Foreign wine is for high end restaurants or very serious private connoisseurs. The thing is, Spain seems to be producing more wine that ever. Loads of micro wineries have started especially in the biodynamic market. The big producers have lifted their game too and have excellent entry level wine as well. However, just like everywhere else, fewer people are drinking it domestically and you can buy excellent Spanish wine in Spain for as little as $15 euros a bottle. When I eat out in Spain it's mostly beer on the table. Young people in Spain, and other parts of Europe, are really struggling financially. They can't afford to start families or buy property. Fancy wine is for old people and they are diminishing every year. My Spanish wife and I work in Britain and I work in the voluntary sector with a major charity. I meet a lot of young people and they're not remotely interested in wine. Many of them don't touch alcohol at all. It's not just them though, the vast majority of middle aged people are the same. Most people I work with buy the occasional bottle priced between £5 - £10. Quality wine is a very niche market. The cost of living has gone up and regular folk aren't responding by buying expensive wine, and by that I mean above £15 a bottle. The British wine boom, which started in the 1980's is in full reverse. Most folk will buy cheap wine on fewer occasions and the top end will be for a tiny niche, just as it was in the 80's. I think that's a good indication with what's happening in the world because the British are a big wine consumer and a utilitarian lot; It's alcoholic grape juice at the end of the day. In addition, people like me that buy the great value mid-market know the score. My excellent £40 bottle is only slightly less good than a bottle priced at a ridiculous £150 or more. By the way, I completely agree that the standard of wine has improved dramatically in the past 20 years and it's diversified in an incredible way. Virtually every country and region in Europe is producing consistently excellent wine at good prices. Spanish white wine is taking off and it's excellent. Who would have thought? Lesser know Italian regions with excellent wine makers. Germany, Austria, Greece, Georgia, Turkey, Slovenia, Albania and everything in-between. Serious wine people want to try all those interesting indigenous grape varieties. I think the biodynamic movement is fragmenting the market as well. I see more shops and online retailers specialising in that field. Giant Behemoth wine regions like Bordeaux and Napa, along with their excessive pricing, just seem to me to have their heads in the sand about the world out there,

Thanks to you I am picking young wines from 2023 if I can find it but most 2022 from France and I'm very happy.

Really interesting to learn a bit more about the history of the wine industry in the US. The wine market at the moment is, I think, a reflection of the broader economy. If more consumers had more money to spend, the industry would be in a better place. That said, though, other factors you mentioned like health concerns from governments might just mean it’s a changing landscape.

Great content as always - really interesting to have your experienced insight! What would your advice be for wine collectors right now? Latest vintage prices are going through the roof while back vintages have some good deals Is the quality going up enough to justify these higher release prices or should i stick to the cheaper bargains?

RIP to those gorgeous wines that will never be drunk because of people like this

I enjoy your frankness both in wine recommendations and your personal situation. Get much well deserved rest.

I’m new to futures, I was looking at purchasing some 2022 futures, but now thinking of just purchasing from certain producers those vintages mentioned (2015,2016, 2018, 2019,2020). What would you recommend to a newcomer to wine collecting? Is 2022 worth taking a dive?

Hey Tom, where do you go for the wine auctions? Are they online?

Chappellet Cab Franc is fantastic, I still have a 2018 in my cellar. I love everything they do really

Excellent stuff buddy. Completely agree about Rioja Alta and the entire range actually. A superb winery but so are a lot of the old wineries including Tondonia. The Rose is a legendary wine if you can get it. I have one because it is a wine before you die experience. Cheers. WT

YOU ARE A DORK

Tommy is the GOAT

Hey, i like your video’s very much! The Bordeaux vintage 2021 is now in stores. It is not considered a good vintage but are there some recommendations from you of wines that are good value and maybe ready to drink the next few years? Thank you 🙏 😊

I have 3 bottles of the 2019 Lanessan in my cellar. Planning on trying one next year. Paid $19.82. I agree with you on the 1985 vintage I consider to 3rd after the '82 & '89 vintages in the '80's. Great balance and depth of fruit. I had the 1985 Leoville Barton, loved the Talbot and Meyney. Had the Sociando Mallet, the Cos, La Lagune, L'Arrosee', LaGrange. For the money ($17.09) the Talbot stood out. The Meyney was got for $9.49 on sale. Those were the days...

Just tried the Bahans Haut Brion 1998 last week, agree that’s it’s a great bottle of wine. Got some at an auction at a great price as well 😊

im 23, my dad and i opened his 89 bahans haut brion (or 86? cant remember) back a handful of months ago. glad im not the only one who likes wine at 23 🙂

I am a big fan of Chateau Canon as well but never had any older than 2000 so you inspired med to look for it, thank you!

the chardonnay is probably more to your liking at $10 because at that price point they cant overdue it with Oak and time on lees. Always nice to find a wine you like at a great price

Lately, the wine industry has been complaining that they are not doing so well. WIne sales are down and the industry as a whole is hurting. Here is my take as a wine consumer and someone who reviews wine on social media. Straight out I call BS to it all. When and industry is hurting for business they start sales...real sales and not buy a case of wine at $40 a piece which is a lot higher than you would buy at say Total Wines and get free shipping. The "hurting" industry often charges more to ship a wine than the wine itself costs. If sales are going down, why are prices going up? Why are the wineries not doing something to entice customers to buy wine? Giving me a supposed sale on a wine and overcharging for shipping is simply overcharging for that product in general. What I mean is, if a bottle of wine costs $10 to ship but you charge $25, that extra money is profit and profiit is profit, it doesn't matter how you get it. As far as the younger generation not drinking wine goes, it is not the younger generation who has the money to drink it. Many companies have realized what I am saying and opened buisnesses in the way of "wine clubs". These clubs sometimes get the very same juice that cost $50 at a winery but sell them for $20. One club, Naked WInes even has the very same iconic winemakers such as Matt Parish of Stags Leap (and others) fame making wine for them but at a fraction of a cost to the consumer. Anyway, I have gone on too long here, thanks fo rthe video, I enjoyed it :) One last thing, I am not a big believer in opinion polls or statistics as in this day and age I believe they are all skewed, I believe what I see, that is reality.

Welcome back!!!