There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal - Hope you can link to it: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471204575210080165312598.html
<h1>Taking Advantage of the Wine Glut
</font></h1><h2 ="sub">Amid an oversupply, Cameron Hughes buys top
wineries' excess and resells it for bargain prices</font></h2>
"There is a glut of wine all over the world—an oversupply so
significant that it's compelled Australian winemakers to plow up their
vineyards, forced French producers to turn wines into ethanol and
brought wealthy Napa vintners if not to their knees then to their
bankers in search of refinance. The reasons are various—new vineyard
plantings by ambitious producers, increased productivity at a time of
plummeting demand, winemakers who have overleveraged their brands.
The bulk wine market—which encompasses everything from wine in the
barrel to finished wines in unlabeled bottles, aka "shiners"—may absorb
some of this excess but with prices as low as $1 a gallon, it's not
going to help winemakers raise very much money, let alone make them
rich. Except in the case of Cameron Hughes. Mr. Hughes takes the $100
California Cabernets that have gone begging for buyers and sells the
very same wines under his own labels for $25 a bottle and less. He
packages them in generic-looking bottles with names like Lot 164
Rutherford Cabernet and Lot 135 Syrah and sells them on his website and
to retailers like Sam's Club and Costco in 38 states...." (more)
<h1>Taking Advantage of the Wine Glut
</font></h1><h2 ="sub">Amid an oversupply, Cameron Hughes buys top
wineries' excess and resells it for bargain prices</font></h2>
"There is a glut of wine all over the world—an oversupply so
significant that it's compelled Australian winemakers to plow up their
vineyards, forced French producers to turn wines into ethanol and
brought wealthy Napa vintners if not to their knees then to their
bankers in search of refinance. The reasons are various—new vineyard
plantings by ambitious producers, increased productivity at a time of
plummeting demand, winemakers who have overleveraged their brands.
The bulk wine market—which encompasses everything from wine in the
barrel to finished wines in unlabeled bottles, aka "shiners"—may absorb
some of this excess but with prices as low as $1 a gallon, it's not
going to help winemakers raise very much money, let alone make them
rich. Except in the case of Cameron Hughes. Mr. Hughes takes the $100
California Cabernets that have gone begging for buyers and sells the
very same wines under his own labels for $25 a bottle and less. He
packages them in generic-looking bottles with names like Lot 164
Rutherford Cabernet and Lot 135 Syrah and sells them on his website and
to retailers like Sam's Club and Costco in 38 states...." (more)
