Word on the grapevine from within the industry is that mof_'s model and their success are starting to work against them. A number of wineries have apparently refused to go through mof_ lately because they don't want their highly rated and/or premium wines marketed so hard over social media at the heavy discounts sold. I don't know if that's true or whether this rival was overplaying the extent of the rejection. But the [to name nameless] rival predicted the Fo were expanding into overseas markets to counter a possible decline in Aus. The rival predicted the mof_ model (as it currently stands) will be gone in 5 years.
I took those views and predictions with a pinch of salt, especially given they were coming from a rival.
All I know is I check everyday as the email comes in. And, so far, I have not acquired anything directly from the Fo since I returned the Cantiniere in November 2015. [I have taken the odd bottle in 6 pack shares]. I just don't trust the hyperbole anymore. That's sad. As I acquired at least 200 bottles of wine from them in the first 6 months of last year, probably more. And I am still enjoying many of those incredible wines to this day.
It's even more sad, as my spending has switched predominantly to various retail channels of the Woolworths Liquor Group. That's really sad. As a super big retailer like WLG usually results in the producers (in this case, the wineries) being squeezed the hardest in the supply and retail chain to satiate our ever increasing demands for the next best bargain.
I would rather be spending my hard earned money with the likes of mof_. But there is too many questionable wines or mediocre wines in the mix these days. All seemingly as good as the next undiscovered super star wine. I am just not prepared to waste my time working out the good from the average, notwithstanding an excellent returns policy. There are plenty of other good retailers that still try to only sell the good stuff like the Fo used to, including My Cellars et al.
There are about 2500 wineries in Australia, how many have sold through VM? (I don't know, I haven't counted, but it's probably less than 200 at a guess.)
The deep discount model depends on there being a general glut of wine (has been for may years now) and wineries either hurting enough to move stock cheaply or seeing some advantage in working with VM on specific wine deals. Some wineries have already realised selling wine cheaply via VM has a downside of offending their mailing list customers (and/or distribution partners) if they sell the same wines via both channels.
I've never had any success predicting the end of the glut and there are always some wineries who for various reasons (lack of marketing skills, etc) become desperate to move stock. But the "mystery wine" approach must be becoming know as a farce, with sites like this and mine identifying most wines very quickly. Yet many other merchants including the WLG arms have copied the strategy. Whether this will continue successfully remains to be seen, but there are no signs of slowing just yet.
The hyperbole does become a bit annoying, I mostly try to ignore it, but if they really have 400,000 on their mailing list, that's more than Cellarmasters has achieved (300,000) in 18-20 years or so and some of those will buy some of whatever is offered in the same way as people buy Cellarmasters own label wines. Cellarmasters scattering $50 and $100 discount codes around like confetti and other regular 20%, 25% or more discounts at Wine Market, BWS etc may be an attempt to combat sales lost to VM, but smart buyers will just wait until the next offer rather than buy in between, so that becomes self-defeating.
I'm curious to see the next VM annual reporting to see if their growth rate continues or has levelled off, or even declined.
They seem to be pretty smart guys, so I'm sure there will be adjustments to the offerings, whether the likes of people here and on my Forum (a very small number compared to 400,000) continue to be satisfied by the offerings also remains to be seen, although the current feedback seems to show a lesser hit rate than before.
Several other on-line sellers offering direct winery big discount sales have come and gone quite quickly, VinoMofo is different to all of those and has a much better chance of longevity. Whether they have (or can partner) the skills and contacts and strategy necessary to break into overseas markets is a big question.
To be specific I have bought a couple of the Helen and Joey Pinot (great quaffer), Maverick Twins GSM (decent quaffer), Westward We Went Cab/Malbec (really good quaffer),Hungerford Hill Gundagai Shiraz (fantastic), Hart of The Barossa Shiraz (fantastic), Fox Gordon BS Cab Sav (fantastic) and Fox Gordon Hannah's Swing 2014. Very happy with all of these, esp for price paid.
