While wineries kept bottling during the recession, sales of high-priced vintages — over $20 — plummeted. Many producers needed to unload older wines to make way for new ones approaching the bottling stage, or were forced to sell off inventory for cash after banks clamped down on credit lines. Some Australian vintners became so desperate that they ripped up vineyards rather than pay for maintenance. In France, they converted wine into ethanol because it was more profitable.
Other producers took to selling surplus wine at a discount to people like Mehra, in return for anonymity. Mehra and several others have capitalized by creating their own brands and selling small batches of wine, while doling out few details about its origins. For instance, someone who buys a bottle of 90+ Cabernet might actually be enjoying wine from a renowned Napa producer. Many high-end wineries are reluctant to put on sale bottles bearing their own labels, fearing it would damage their reputations and undercut their full-priced products.
90+Cellars tries to distinguish itself from the competition by only carrying finished wines that have received a gold medal or 90-plus rating in a past vintage. The company’s name is derived from the high scores that the trade publication Wine Spectator and other industry critics confer upon top-tier wines. 90+Cellars promises to keep the wineries’ names secret in exchange for hefty discounts — savings that are passed on to customers.
It’s a modern take on the traditional négociant — the French term for wine merchants who collect the grapes of smaller winemakers and growers, blend them into wines, and sell them under their own umbrella. Louis Jadot is one of the leading Burgundy négociants, and Georges Duboeuf is among the top Beaujolais merchants with a proprietary label. Négociants often must sign nondisclosure agreements.
“You’re paying for the wine. You’re not paying for the label,’’ said Mehra, who previously worked for a spirits company. “We are making unapproachable and unaffordable wines more accessible.’’
