Bloomberg has an article about the dollar and its effects on wine prices. Australia and Chile are trying to maintain the price in dollars but:

"On the other hand, French and Italian producers -- which are less dependent on U.S. sales because of their large domestic markets -- are mostly keeping prices steady in their currency, the euro.

That means U.S. customers next year will pay 10 percent to 15 percent more for Chianti, Beaujolais or La Rioja wines, said William Deutsch, president of WJ Deutsch & Sons, a White Plains, New York wine importer.

``It has to be passed on to the consumer,'' said Deutsch, who in December spent 11 days in France visiting suppliers. ``Some French producers have agreed to tighten their belts a bit, but there isn't much margin.''"

My question (I have a gift certificate): Should I add liquidity to my cellar before the prices go up further, wait until the prices come down or become a teetotaler and drink Coca-Cola with meals?

Your suggestions are welcomed.

Ever heard of "3 buck Chuck"?

Yea, but I tried that when in California. I renamed it "3 buck upchuck".

Please, no whine before it's time ... and consider the options. Indulge in CA wines and ease their glut, load up on french 2000, still at good prices and the best vintage in a century and take a "pass" on french futures for second rate wines but first-rate greed. This is a strictly win-win-win, so enjoy.

I generally drink Chilean and Australian wines in the US, and occasionally South African or Italian There are 1-2 types of French wine I will buy, but I'm talking my daily, table wine where I don't want to spend more than about $10 a bottle. I think you get better wine at that price range from Chile and Australia than France and I think it's because of taxes or something, not the euro value because it's always been that way. I think my state taxes French wines differently than surrounding states, also, so they are more expensive here than the next state over.

I find that article's tone kind of surprising. Why would they expect French and Italian wine producers to lower their prices because the value of the USD is worse against the euro? This just seems so self-centered. The thing that is really strange is you're talking a luxury item, here, imported wines, so I don't think passing the hat to help out people to buy more imported wine is exactly in order or that wine producers should give relatively well-off Americans discounts to buy their wine.

My short answer -- no you shouldn't fill your basement with wine now. I don't like to keep too much wine around and some doesn't really age that well, anyway. You can easily drink wine from other countries or the US. I don't actually like most US wine, but the decent US wine isn't that cheap in comparison to Chile and Australia, anyway. I often drink Lindemann's or Concho y Toro wines and they are only $5-12 a bottle.

If you have a gift certificate for French wine or something, I would go ahead and buy it as I wouldn't expect prices to go down a lot soon.

You poor wine snobs. I feel for you.
But I can't quite reach you.

Gina,

"load up on french 2000, still at good prices and the best vintage in a century"

What century is that?

MM

mm. the 2000 vintage in France has been rated "best" in 100 years, all regions, exceeding '45, '59, '61 and '82. Prices have remained stable, with excellent buys still availabe ($8-$12 easily available).

Vintage 2001 was nice but not remarkable, and 2002 suffered some problems.

Please consult Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, et al for more details.

Christina, no disrepsect, but your information reflects your tastes and buying habits, and are not definitive.

First of all, I think Gina is refering only to Bordeaux 2000's, since not all vintage 2000 French wines turned out good.
Also, she probably meant the last century.

BTW, even the Bordeaux 2000s have shot up in prices, most of them unjustifiable, since their release last year. Like the article that was quoted in this thread, I expect this vintage's prices to go up at a higher rate than normal due to the US$ continuing decline against the Euro.

I believe that there's still a wide margin in quality between Chilean/Aussie Cabs and French Bordeaux. If you're talking cellar-worthy wines, I'd stick with the Bordeaux 2000s, essentially with the better value non-Premiere Grand crus (first Growths). I had some and am keeping a few mixed cases for staggered consumption over the years, and yes, they are very good.

rcc, first growths? really? That is great!

Christina: I drink my share of Lindemann's and Concho y Toro. They are nice, pedestrian, but nice, every day wines at good value. But your comment "I don't actually like most US wine" either shows a bias that makes your opinion easy to disregard or displays a less than discerning palate.
I am a firm believer in the adage "drink what pleases you". But to write off a whole industry of wine makers as if their products were all the same and, therefore, can be defined in a simple statement like yours is, I am sorry, rediculous.
If you are looking for good US wines at reasonable prices, try the Double Gold, Best of Class 2002 Delicato Shiraz at about $6.00 a bottle or the Esser Cellars 2001 Chardonnay at about $8.00 a bottle. If you can try these wines and still lump them into the "US wines I actually don't like" category you allude to, then I will happily leave you alone.

Switch to Coca-Cola, but only for red meats. For a more appropriate accompaniment to fish and poultry dishes, I'd recommend 7-Up.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I just returned from using my gift certificate and really appreciated capo's suggestion but instead of 7-up I got a case of ginger ale - drier you know.

In spite of bob_brown chiding us for being wine snobs, I did pick up a few items: whites from Westport Wineyards in Massachusetts and Sakonnet Vineyards in Rhode Island, some Argentinian Malbec and Chilean Carmenere and, the piece de resistance, Piney Woods Texas Pecan Mocca for the after dinner festivities.