Sale at the SAQ Signature

[wattacetti]

Anyone else get their Signature flyer in the mail today? The twenty bottles of 2000 Le Pin are a relative steal at $2620.00 apiece (down from $3495) but it looks like mostly good producers from lesser years.

I wonder whose bright idea it was to have this sale overlap the SAQ's deadline for en primeur sales of the 2005 Bordeaux?

[Mr. Fagioli]

I wonder whose bright idea it was to have this sale overlap the SAQ's deadline for en primeur sales of the 2005 Bordeaux?

←

You really think there's much overlap? Bordeaux primeurs are mainly for serious collectors and speculators, most of whom have long since put in their orders; this other one appears to be an inventory-clearance sale aimed squarely at relatively inexperienced collectors looking for (relative) bargains. What's the slogan again? "Finally! An excuse to expand your cellar!" or something like that.

And while we're on the subject, there's also an online clearance sale, 20% off saq.com orders of selected products from now until Saturday. Careful, the fancy dessert wines are mostly in 375 ml bottles.

[wattacetti]

Not everyone on the Courrier Vinicole list is a serious collector or speculator, and some (like me) didn't get our catalogs until late. They could have timed things a bit better but I guess they have to do their own numbers. I'll probably pick through some of the Burgognes.

Also not too worried that the dessert wines are splits; I generally only serve them and don't often imbibe.

[Mr. Fagioli]

Not everyone on the Courrier Vinicole list is a serious collector or speculator, and some (like me) didn't get our catalogs until late. They could have timed things a bit better but I guess they have to do their own numbers. I'll probably pick through some of the Burgognes.

Also not too worried that the dessert wines are splits; I generally only serve them and don't often imbibe.

←

Of course there are going to be some people interested in all three sales who don't have the budget for all three, and the SAQ risks alienating some customers as a result. Some people may have blown their budget on last weekend's manager's sale too. But on the whole, I think the segments are probably distinct enough for their purposes -- or affluent enough.

BTW, I don't have the Signature flyer in front of me, but I believe the caveat about small bottles only applies to the online sale from today through Saturday. (One Sauternes, one vintage port, and the Capitel.) IIRC, most of the ones in the Signature sale are 750s.

Do you have the English version of the Signature flyer? There's a serious production gaffe in the French version: they used the exact same blurb for a Gewurtztraminer SGN and a Spanish red.

[wattacetti]

I have never received an English flyer from the SAQ. Good catch on the massive typos. I am not interested in those wines and didn't bother to read the blurbs.

[Campofiorin]

Of course there are going to be some people interested in all three sales who don't have the budget for all three, and the SAQ risks alienating some customers as a result. Some people may have blown their budget on last weekend's manager's sale too. But on the whole, I think the segments are probably distinct enough for their purposes -- or affluent enough.

BTW, I don't have the Signature flyer in front of me, but I believe the caveat about small bottles only applies to the online sale from today through Saturday. (One Sauternes, one vintage port, and the Capitel.) IIRC, most of the ones in the Signature sale are 750s.

Do you have the English version of the Signature flyer? There's a serious production gaffe in the French version: they used the exact same blurb for a Gewurtztraminer SGN and a Spanish red.

←

I can hardly imagine someone busting thir budget on the director's sale considering the amount of uninteresting stuff I've seen through visits at various locations.

[wattacetti]

I can hardly imagine someone busting thir budget on the director's sale considering the amount of uninteresting stuff I've seen through visits at various locations.

←

I look at it as the SAQ's attempt to recreate the shopping experience at Winner's.

[Mr. Fagioli]

I can hardly imagine someone busting thir budget on the director's sale considering the amount of uninteresting stuff I've seen through visits at various locations.

←

Normally I would agree, but I came across something interesting on another site (after the fact, unfortunately): some savvy shoppers got good deals on interesting bottles by asking about "orphan" bottles. Seems that at some outlets, managers were willing to discount just about anything that was down to the last bottle or two. Take this with a grain of salt, of course, since it's just something I read elsewhere (scroll to the bottom).

[wattacetti]

There are also some managers who hide odd-stock to make available to interested customers (e.g. some small-production Californian Pinot Noir, Clos Apalta).