Are you getting the deal you think you are

As things get tougher on the high street. The big wine retailers come up with ever more tempting offers. In fact over the last few weeks there has been an explosion in the big four supermarkets of what would appear to be some very tempting offers.
Some almost too good to be true?
My local superstore has wine pilled up right inside the door as you go in. Half price offer they proudly boast. For example Pinot Grigio rrp £8.99 now £4.50 min purchase 6 bottles. Great you might think? And certainly people are filling their trolleys with the stuff. You may have been one of them? But let me ask you this. Would you be so keen if it was just priced at £4.50? Probably not? But that's all it's worth.

You see the thing is it's this rrp (recommended retail price) you have to be careful of. This wine hasn’t previously been on sale at £8.99. Who has recommended that it be sold at £8.99? The supermarket themselves? We would all love to be able to charge much more for our wine than we actually do. Fact is that no wine is worth more than the market is willing to pay. So these inflated prices are at best aspirational or at worst very sharp marketing that is just within the law. Because clearly very few people are going to pay £8.99 for a bottle of PG but many would like to think that they have bagged a bargain. If you don't believe me put it to the test. Look out for one of these deals out Tesco's biggest rival. Buy a bottle of Pinot Grigio or anything else on one of these half price deals and taste it along side it's equivalent bog standard relative being sold at it's non inflated price and see if you can spot the difference? At the same time ask yourself if you would have been happy to pay double for it? Because you should have been. Fact is if it's been offered at half price then it should be worth full price.

Next time you’re in a supermarket take some time to look past all the generic brands like Blossom Hill, Jacobs Creek etc etc. Look past all the promotions and you will see that all of the serious well made wine that has some regional identity is no cheaper here than it is from most good independent wine merchants.
What's that old saying? Can't see the wood for the trees.