Well cinderellawine.com - the newest venture from Gary Vaynerchuk and the Wine Library - went live last night, and their first wine just had to be from Tuscany!
The offering is the 2003 "Solengo" IGT from Argiano - at the unheard of price of $23.33 a bottle - with free shipping on orders of 3 bottles or more. It is interesting to me for a lot of reasons, but first and foremost it has to send a shiver down the spines of Tuscan winemakers. We are seeing some true price (and perhaps brand) destruction. Once wines like this start selling at these prices, others are sure to follow. And what do makers of Chianti Classico do? Plenty Classicos are in this price range, with most Riservas beyond this price point. I am not saying this is categorically "bad" news for the industry, but it could be a harbinger of new parameters of price that will force many people to rethink what they are doing - and I mean everyone in the business.
To those of you who are going to buy some - enjoy!