The objection to government monopolies is usually that they “manifestly cause waste and inefficiency, while denying consumers the range of price and service options they desire”. I have previously argued that this is not true for Systembolaget: (i) I have pointed out that, as the third biggest alcohol retailer in the world, Systembolaget provides me with a wide range of wines of all styles and origins (Wine monopolies, and the availability of wine), and (ii) decent wine is less expensive in Sweden compared to most other places, and sometimes cheaper even than in its homeland (Why is wine often cheaper in Sweden than elsewhere?). Also, Systembolaget was recently voted among the most trusted institutions in Sweden, with 71% of the respondents having high confidence (Most trusted institutions/companies in Sweden in 2023).
It therefore seems to be an obvious extension of this topic to ask about the availability of older vintages of wines, as well as simply the current release from any given winery. Price is not everything, in the wine world. So, what I will do here is look at the availability of older vintages of Australian wine (because that is where I come from), currently in bottles in Systembolaget. As an aside, Systembolaget reports that boxes represent roughly 60% of wine sales, rather than bottles. [This retailer is known to the locals as “Systemet” = The System.]
The table below shows the results of my searching in the database. These are all of the Australian wines at least 5 years since vintage. I have shown the Swedish (SEK) price for each wine. Note that US$ 1 ≈ 10 SEK, which makes the conversion easy. The prices are usually not discounted after initial release, but sometimes it does happen, presumably to clear the stock. For example, the Paulett Chardonnay was recently reduced to 99sek.
I should point out that most of these wines were originally released as the current vintage release, and they have simply gone unsold by the importer / distributor. This does not matter in practice, provided that the wines have been stored suitably. According to what I can find out online, all of these wines should still be quite drinkable, as indicated in the third column of the table (best years in which to drink).
This looks to me like a reasonable selection (two dozen); and provided that the wines are still drinkable it is worthwhile. However, people used to specialist wine shops might find that this selection is nothing to write home about, especially in countries like the USA, where specialty retail is expected, and Australia (eg. Wynns Black Label hits purple patch). However, for the Swedish national retail chain, where almost all of the alcohol sold is budget stuff for everyday drinking (the classic “wines for the table not the cellar”), it is as good as I would expect. These wines have effectively been in a cellar (the importer) for several years, and they can be in a cellar (mine) for a few more yet.
These wines are rarely actually in any of the retail stores, but are still in the importer / distributor warehouse. ** They can be ordered through the Systembolaget online order system, and arrive a few days later at my local store, where I collect (and pay for) them.
It has been suggested to me that these wines might be specific inventory that went unsold during the Covid19 pandemic. However, to me this seems unlikely, as it is customers not restaurants ordering through Systembolaget, and they could continue to order exactly as usual all during the pandemic slowdown.
On a disappointing note, I recently ordered three of these wines, and in one case I was substituted the 2018 vintage instead of the 2016 — on a brighter note, I got a 30% discount.
* Small-scale farm-producer sales of alcohol are to be allowed in Sweden by 2025, according to the government. Yay!
** A recent survey indicated that, for younger people, Cost of shipping, Customer service, and Communication about order status are more important than Wide variety of choices.
"I was substituted the 2018 vintage instead of the 2016". Not uncommon unfortunately if they have an off vintage to offload. Especially now ordered wines come in a sealed plastic bag. Of course the Systembolaget know what they are doing but fail to tell the customer that you do not get what you ordered.
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