Debate House Prices


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The Cost of the Claret

HAMISH_MCTAVISH
HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
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Harrumph....

We here at Chateaux McTavish are distinctly unimpressed with the price performance of cellars these days.

While not yet in the realms of a Whine Price Crash, the below-ground portion of one's residence is not keeping up with the above-ground portion in appreciation terms....

Of course this could in theory be offset by the stellar performance of vintage single malts in recent years, diversified portfolio, etc, etc, but unfortunately I drank them all..... :(

Hic.....
“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

-- President John F. Kennedy”

Comments

  • Generali
    Generali Posts: 36,411 Forumite
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    Perhaps we should start a website, https://www.winepricecrash.co.uk.
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
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    Generali wrote: »
    Perhaps we should start a website, https://www.winepricecrash.co.uk.

    We could, but if the house prices experience is anything to go by, it would only attract a bunch of loonies trying to con people into deferring their wine consumption for a decade or more, simply to save a few pence on a cheap bottle of plonk from Tesco.

    I shall probably just enjoy a glass or three safe in the knowledge I paid dramatically less a decade ago than I would today, and remain delighted I haven't paid a small fortune over the odds to a [STRIKE]landlord[/STRIKE] bonded warehouse in that time.:)
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
  • mystic_trev
    mystic_trev Posts: 5,430 Forumite
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    I'm now going over to Calais to get all my Wine. I can do the round trip in about four hours door to door using Le Shuttle, but tend to make a day out, and do some shopping in Cite Europe. I'm getting decent bottles of wine that retail in the UK for £10 at around half price there. As there's only around two quid duty on wine, I can't understand why there's such a high mark up here? I also enjoy a decent Calvados, so buy that there as well.
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I'm now going over to Calais to get all my Wine. I can do the round trip in about four hours door to door using Le Shuttle, but tend to make a day out, and do some shopping in Cite Europe. I'm getting decent bottles of wine that retail in the UK for £10 at around half price there. As there's only around two quid duty on wine, I can't understand why there's such a high mark up here? I also enjoy a decent Calvados, so buy that there as well.

    Wine at the cheaper end of things here in the UK is a pretty good example of taxation causing massive distortion to the market.

    If you take a £5 bottle of wine as an example, £1 is VAT and £2 is duty, so if you take another £1 for the bottle, label, packaging, transportation and retailers margin, that only leaves at most £1 to cover the cost of the actual wine in the bottle.

    Whereas at £10 a bottle you've got closer to £4 to cover the cost of the liquid in it, so the quality of wine you can buy in the UK for £7-10 can be quite dramatically better than what you can get for a fiver.

    It seems like most of Europe doesn't have quite the same sort of distortions at the lower end of the market, so the quality/price slope is far smoother.

    One of the things we really enjoy when visiting there is buying and drinking properly decent wines for under a tenner that are £20-£30 here.

    The problem is, as we usually fly, it's not really possible to bring them back in any quantity. The extra 500 miles travel each way from the north of Scotland to the ferries/tunnel would pretty much wipe out any advantage to driving both from a time and money perspective.
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
  • Maybe you're quaffing the wrong stuff, Hamish.

    I've always been a Burgundy man, preferring the taste and consistency of the delicious Pinot Noir. I once made a pigrimage to the great Romanee Conti slopes, and 'blessed' it with the contents of my bladder.


    index.jpg

    You are right, of course, to point out that good wines should be bought in UK. The flat tax per bottle is negligeable on a 'good' bottle [the stuff that you and I drink often], whereas in France, the tax is a percentage.

    They always say, however, that Burgundy is over-priced. In fact it reminds me of all the whinging about London House prices.

    My booking at "The Square" in Bruton Street London is imminent and a glance at the wine list shows me that if I want a decent burgundy, I'll be in for £7,350 for a 2001 Romanee Conti. Whereas if I settle for a 1961 Chateau Palmer, I can get it for a mere £4,800.

    Being rather mean, however, I shall probably stick to a modest 1998 Pommard 1er Cru, Les Grandes Epenots, available for only £195.

    I'm told it travels well. Maybe I should instruct the restaurant to have it driven up to Aberdeen and back before I drink it?
  • purch
    purch Posts: 9,865 Forumite
    .
    If you take a £5 bottle of wine as an example, £1 is VAT and £2 is duty, so if you take another £1 for the bottle, label, packaging, transportation and retailers margin, that only leaves at most £1 to cover the cost of the actual wine in the bottle.

    Most of the stuff sold by Supermarkets for a fiver or less comes over here in a huge plastic bag and is bottled in the UK. Hugely reduces shipping costs.
    'In nature, there are neither rewards nor punishments - there are Consequences.'
  • HAMISH_MCTAVISH
    HAMISH_MCTAVISH Posts: 28,592 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I'm told it travels well. Maybe I should instruct the restaurant to have it driven up to Aberdeen and back before I drink it?

    You could have it driven up..... It almost certainly wouldn't make it back.:D
    “The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.

    Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

    -- President John F. Kennedy”
  • You could have it driven up..... It almost certainly wouldn't make it back.:D

    Happy to share it with you, Hamish. But not sure if it would go down well with a deep fried Mars Bar?
  • Generali
    Generali Posts: 36,411 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Happy to share it with you, Hamish. But not sure if it would go down well with a deep fried Mars Bar?

    Le Tonique des Moines de Buckfast is the traditional accompaniment I believe.
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