The company claim they do not charge any commission apart from 10% they levy on any profit made from the sale of the wines.
Having looked at the individual case price of the wines attached, they appear very much over priced.
They also claim to have been trading wines for over 10 years.’
The suggested wines
1 X Case (12 Bottles) Mouton Rothschild 2000 £12,540.00
1 x Case (12 Bottles) Lafite Rothschild 2005 £15,345.00
1 x Case (12 Bottles) Mouton Rothschild 2008 £5,527.00
Sub Total: £33,412.00 Total: £33,412.00
My response
The Premier Wine Company is the trading name of C F One Investments Ltd with a registered office at Mortimer House, 40 Chatsworth Parade, Petts Wood, Kent BR5 1DE. The company was incorporated on 28th January 2005 and the last accounts filed up to 31st January 2009 with Companies House are for a dormant company. The company voted to change its name on 14th April 2010.
The Premier Wine Company gives its trading address as 88 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1PL. However, a recent job advert suggests that the company may be based in Bromley:
OPENERS / BROKERS
REQUIRED
Bromley Area
We are looking for experienced people to join our team of brokers.
Must be ambitious and driven and have a good telephone manner.
Excellent pay package and incentives.
Please send CV with any further info to:
Michael Morrison
jobs@thepremierwinecompany.com’
(http://www.fish4.co.uk/jobs/advert?parentId=1227866572&industrySectors=15&chk=109c23b62e50c08883150c9c3947e883&adId=26299697&pagetype=searchresults&offset=7&maxResults=3329)
BR is correct in thinking that it is possible to buy these wines for considerably less than the prices quoted by The Premier Wine Company. www.wine-searcher.com shows that:
Albany Vintners has the 2000 Mouton Rothschild for £7600
Roberson Trading has the 2005 Lafite for £9500
Bibendum Wine has the 2008 Mouton-Rothschild for £3200
Total: £20,300. Difference between these three companies and The Premier Wine Company: £13,112
I emailed The Premier Wine Company asking the prices for the three wine quoted and received the following reply from Leigh Cramer:
Dear Mr Budd,
Thank you very much for your email. I am not in the office right now, so I am unable to elucidate what the prices are concerning the fine wines you have requested.
Thank you very much for your email. I am not in the office right now, so I am unable to elucidate what the prices are concerning the fine wines you have requested.
As an overview, our prices vary depending on the source of the product, the availability and the usual market pricing indexes - which I am sure you are aware of. There is quite a large fluctuation and variation in prices as at times we are quite far down the supply chain (hence higher prices) and other times we are near to the source or we own the product ourselves (hence lower prices). We cannot publish a set price list as do Bordeaux Index for instance. When we are selling on behalf of a client, they set the price and we advise the saleability and facilitate the sale - if possible - and gain a 10% broker fee.
We are in the process of purchasing a very large consignment of vintage wines. We will be wholesaling them to suppliers as well as selling them directly. This will have a major benefit to the market place and will help to keep some of the wines in Europe as opposed to sending everything to Asia!
Having read some of your blogs for the first time today, I would like to wholeheartedly support your contribution to the integrity of the wine industry. It is a shame that a minority spoil it for others by bringing the market into disrepute. Please feel free to contact me at any time.
Kind regards,
Leigh Cramer
The Premier Wine Company
88 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1PL
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6868
Mob: +44 (0) 7740 256 148
My advice
Given the difference in price (£13,112) it makes no sense to buy from The Premier Wine Company. The claim to have been trading in wine for 10 years looks unlikely as the company was founded in 2005 and was dormant at least until the beginning of 2009.
Hi. I recently purchased some fine wine from the Premier Wine Company. I have read your comments above and would like to say that although I have since found that the wine I purchased was a bit pricey, the service and advice I received from one of their brokers was very good. Today I have tried to purchase similar wine from other companies and they have stated that they do not have it in stock and it is not likely that they will have any available for a few days.
ReplyDeleteAnon. Thank you for your comment, which would carry more weight if you quoted prices of the wines you purchased and which companies you tried to buy wine from.
ReplyDeleteThey've also tried to contact my grandmother, for whom wine as an investment is a very bad idea, given the difference between the time horizon any investor should be using and her expected lifespan.
ReplyDeleteI've also just dropped in at 88 St James' too - it's a rented office and I couldn't find any reference to the Premier Wine Company.
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I looked at your Blog.
I have also had cold calls from Premier WC to which I eventually said no. Some months later I had a call from a company called Vintage Vines who were less professional but more high pressure sales.
The thing that kept me interested was 'what's their angle?', now looking at your blog I can see what it is. I also kept thinking if a deal sounds to good to be true it normally is and would I give £6K to some one I have never meet?
Cheer B