Only in South Africa would you see this kind of innovative wine pricing strategy. Pieter Walser, owner/winemaker of BlankBottle has released a white blend called “Moment of Silence,” and sent out 20 cases of the wine to customers and asked them to evaluate the wine and pay what they thought it was worth. While the value got up to 90R or $11.75, the average price was around 50R or $6.50. Pieter is now selling “Moment of Silence” for 40R so that the wine delivers the goods. What do you think, is this purely a marketing gimmick or a genuine way to create fair pricing for a new wine?

Here’s a quote from one customer that speaks volumes, “With all that, we decided that if we buy the wine on the market in a retail shop, we will pay R65 a bottle. However (and I hope you don’t feel cheated here), since your motto is to over deliver on quality and want to keep prices affordable, buying from the winemaker direct, we settled on R55.”

I would love to see that happen with some of the California cult cab and pinot producers!  Cheers to Pieter and BlankBottle.

This past Wednesday, Nirvino kicked off an early celebration of Cinqo de Mayo with a Nirvino House Party celebrating the wines of Spain. Below there are some photos, as you can see everyone had a great time enjoying the wine and food. A big thanks to Brenda for sharing her home and friends with Nirvino.

Here’s a list of the wines we tasted:

NV Pere Ventura Brut Cava

2006 El Hada Viura Rueda Verdejo

2005 Bodegas Castano Hecula Yecla Monastrell

2005 Bodegas Ochoa Garnacha Blend

2005 Bodegas Numanthia-Termes Termes Tempranillo