A product's listing status and its price answer different questions. The status describes how DABS classifies the item. A price field describes an amount. A comment can describe a change. Reading one as if it answered all three is where terms such as “limited,” “special,” and “discontinued” become confusing.

Product status is not a price label

The legend in DABS's October 2026 price book identifies these codes:

These are separate categories. L and A are not the same code, and neither by itself establishes that a temporary price allowance applies. A status label alone should not be treated as a quality rating or a discount announcement.

Source: DABS October 2026 price-book status legend, effective October 1, 2026.

What is a Special Price Allowance?

A Special Price Allowance, usually shortened to SPA, is a temporary reduction given to DABS and passed through to the consumer. DABS publishes SPA information by fiscal month. This is a pricing concept, not another name for a limited product or a special order.

Think of the status and the allowance as two separate descriptions. One identifies the item's catalog category; the other describes a temporary pricing treatment. Neither description replaces the other.

DABS also notes that products and prices can change without notice. An older reference to an allowance should therefore not be presented as a current price claim.

Source: DABS's SPA explanation.

What does “special order” mean?

“Special order” refers to DABS's program for products the agency does not currently stock or list. The word “special” describes that separate program; it does not mean a promotional price. A clear glossary should distinguish the program from an SPA rather than combining both under “specials.”

Source: DABS Special Order Program overview.

Discontinued is not the same as temporarily unavailable

DABS's legend separates discontinued classifications from unavailable classifications. Its FAQ explains that a product may be delisted because a supplier has stopped making it, its performance does not support continuing the listing, or it has been out of stock for too long.

Those are different reasons for a catalog change. A discontinued status should not automatically be described as a statement about the wine's quality, a temporary stock gap, or a particular discount.

Sources: DABS status legend and FAQ, “Why are products delisted?”.

A note about “closeout”

“Closeout” is not one of the status labels in the October 2026 legend reviewed for this guide. We therefore do not use it as a synonym for every discontinued item. Where the official record identifies an item as discontinued, that is the more precise term. Any separate claim about a price reduction would need its own supporting evidence.

Source: DABS October 2026 price-book status legend.

Why the date matters

DABS's price-list policy separates the effective date, product status, price fields, and comments. Its monthly-price-book page says published prices reflect the time of publication, may change without notice, and that register prices are the authoritative prices.

Before interpreting a label, ask three questions: What kind of information is this? What date does it describe? What does the source actually establish? That keeps a catalog classification from becoming an unsupported claim about price or availability.

Sources: DABS Price List Policies and DABS Monthly Price Books.

This guide explains terminology, not live prices or availability. It is independently written by Utah Wine Notes and is not an official DABS publication.