Wine's New Deal
A bailout plan we can all drink to
The recent stimulus package might have divided Congress, but a California winery has devised a bailout plan we can all get behind: a wine that gets cheaper as the market goes down.
Made by San Francisco-based Crushpad, the 2007 Bailout Napa Valley Cabernet is a blend of grapes from some of Napa's most storied vineyards. Wines from the area typically run $75 and up, so Bailout's prepurchase (aka futures) price--$39--is already a steal. And the deal only gets better. Here's how the Bailout plan works:
1. You preorder the wine for $39 per bottle. Crushpad will record the closing value of the Dow Industrial Average on your purchase date.
2. For every 100 points the Dow drops from the purchase date, Crushpad takes $2 off the final price of each bottle (which can go as low as $9 per bottle). As of this writing, the lowest price has been $17.34.
3. The final price will be settled on August 14, 2009, and you'll be reimbursed for the difference (consider it a "stimulus check"). Your wine will then be bottled and shipped.
Even if (by some miracle) the market should rebound this summer, you won't have to pay more than $39. Plus you'll have a great excuse for popping the cork right away.
