Nils Gustaf Lindgren wrote:
>> To the best of my knowledge, you won't find any prices on the
>> homepages of Lafite, Mouton, Margaux, any Grande Marque Champagne
>> house or top Rhône producer for their wines. Why do you expect
>> something else from a top Alsace producer?
>>
>
> Well, yes. Why do I?
> AAMF, I looked into it, out of curiosity - Chapoutier has a a clear list of
> prices, while Guigal has not. Hugel has a price list, Trimbach has not. Zind
> Humbrecht apparently do not have a web site at all. Nor does Ostertag.
> Marcel Deiss' web site is beautiful and extremely informative, including
> where the grapes of each wine has been harvested - but does not contain a
> price list.
> Smith Haut Lafitte has a price list that you download.
> Chave has no web site, while Delas has a hugely informative site that will
> place the wine into a sensorial matrix, tell me about the terroir, the
> yield, the respect of the terroir and so on - but not what price the wines
> are.
> I could go on.
> My point being, if you feel that, as a producer, you want to inform
> concerning your production, your philosophy, your lineage, your vineyards,
> and show lots of pictures of the, admittedly often breathtaking,
> surroundings of the vineyards (at least that is the case in Alsace,
> Burgundy, and the Northern Rhone), then - why not a list of prices if you
> sell off the cellar door? Provided, of course, that you do sell off the
> cellar door. Drouhin and Jadot in Bourgogne do not and have no price list,
> Coche-Bizouard (admittedly not in the top rank) do and have.
> Perhaps Weinbach do not sell directly, on the domaine, I don't know.
> What's your opinion?
>

Hi Nils,

I think the French have a thing when it comes to talking about money
generally, even more so when it comes to discussing the costs of "luxury
goods."

Perhaps this dates to the revolution. In the US or UK having a nice
house or
car is a sign of success; here it moves you up in the queue for the
guillotine!
So many beautiful properties are hidden behind rather high, insalubrious
looking walls.

When you have workmen over to discuss a potential project, they will
never talk
money at all, instead preferring to send a written estimate. Difficult
to iterate when
you're trying to see what will be possible in a fixed budget.

Real estate is often listed without price, even when not particularly
expensive. Even
apartment rentals are frequently listed without price. If you have to
ask... I think the
assumption is that we all know the market, after all.

I too find the lack of "transparency" in pricing annoying, but I think
it's cultural and
extends to any number of areas.

-E