50 minute read
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Second Edinburgh shop for Cornelius
Cornelius Beer & Wine in Edinburgh has opened a second store.
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Owner James Wrobel reports that he’s been looking for a second premises for a long time. “It’s a pretty saturated market,” he says, “and this was the first time that we found a spot we really agreed on. It’s quite local to the current shop but it is a very different part of Leith and will open us up to a whole new customer base.”
The new shop, on Leith Walk, is part of the redevelopment of Steads Redbrick, a parade of shops which a few years ago was saved by the local community from being knocked down and being replaced by flats.
“Thanks to vigorous campaigning from the locals, the site is being refurbished and restored and turned into a parade of shops again,” says Wrobel.
“We put the offer in January and were supposed to get the keys in May and it’s been really delayed, which is annoying, but it’s not costing me any money at least.
“One of the good things about the delay is that I’ve had plenty of time to get into negotiations with the developers. They’re not giving me any fuss about the interior, but the exterior and all the signage has to vaguely match the rest of the units. They want to keep all the colours muted and
An artist’s impression of the new store
everything the same size on the shop fronts.
“One issue is that they don’t want any exterior shutters, so I’ve got to have grilles on the inside, which means I might have my windows smashed every so often. It should be fine, it’s a pretty good street with lots of locals, in a very densely populated area of Edinburgh.”
The new shop is about half the size of “the mothership”. Wrobel says: “I’ll start off pretty much replicating what we have at our Easter Road shop. Every community is different and I’m sure over the coming months I’ll discover what people will want to drink down there and the shop will reflect that. I don’t think they will really need the huge amount of Vinho Verdhe and orange wines we have [at Easter Road], but we’ll see.”
Second Edinburgh shop for S&G
After seven years of trading in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Smith & Gertrude has opened a second site a 20-minute drive away in Portobello.
Owner Duncan Findlater says draught wine is a popular addition to the new shop.
“We’ve got wine on tap so we can offer quality wines at a really solid price point,” he says. “It feels that, in the years since we opened at Stockbridge, what you can get access to via keg now is amazing and that’s going down really well for us. We went for Lindr, which was the system that Graft recommended.
“At the moment we have wines from Roberson on tap as they had a couple of wines that we already took that we knew were amazing.”
Most wine merchants will concede that taking that leap from one to two shops can be daunting. Findlater agrees, but he’s taking it all in his stride.
“We felt relatively well prepared,” he says, “but it’s been a massive learning curve. Even things like a stock system that works across the two sites … you don’t want to reinvent the wheel so it’s trying to gain efficiencies and maximise the potential.
“I guess the biggest thing is that we deal with a lot of suppliers in London, and they’ll ship up, but they only want to deliver to one site so there’s a lot of me ferrying it across town. It’s just getting to grips with things like that.”
The second shop is based on the original model in Stockbridge, but expanded a little to offer a larger selection for offsales. Portobello is similar in size to the Stockbridge site but it’s not quite operating at full capacity yet.
Findlater says: “It’s split into two areas, almost, and there is a private dining room, so it has a lot of potential for events and for doing the book clubs, tastings and collaborations that we already do in Stockbridge. We’ve just got the bar open at the moment, but we will get it to the point where we are opening more regularly during the week as well.”
The Stockbridge branch
Peckham Cellars on expansion trail
Peckham Cellars has big plans to grow the brand into neighbouring Camberwell.
The expansion, which is due to complete early next year, comprises a restaurant, Little Cellars, with an adjacent wine bar and store, which will be launched as the Cellar Next Door bottle shop.
Co-owner Ben McVeigh explains that when Peckham Cellars opened back in 2019, the focus was hospitality rather than retail.
“We never started out to be a wine retailer,” he says. “But as we opened just before the pandemic we set up a website and did the whole retail thing, and most people got to know us through that.”
McVeigh and his partners, Helen Hall and Luke West-Whylie, first spotted the new premises over a year ago and initially planned to start trading from there last November, but things are rarely that straightforward.
“It’s all a bit complicated,” explains McVeigh. “The landlord is redeveloping the building so it’s all tied up in a much bigger plan. He’s been good about it, but there have been some unforeseen things along the way.”
The move will allow the team at Peckham to “lean into the restaurant a bit more”, although there will still be some wine available for retail. The Camberwell site will also serve as a hub for the growing e-commerce side of the business.
McVeigh adds: “We wanted a dedicated retail site because we have been muddling through, half using the restaurant, half using a storage unit down the road.
“We’re really looking forward to being able to focus on the retail. It will be sort of a hybrid, but it’s split into two very distinct halves. One side is a wine shop with a tasting room downstairs and the other side is a small but perfectly formed wine bar.”
Italian specialist has big ambitions
Italian specialist Baccello has opened for business on the High Street in Christchurch, Dorset.
Owner Yuanyi Li is on a mission to promote Italian wine. “I’ve lived here there and everywhere – Italy, the UK, China, Singapore – and I have the most love for Italian wine,” he says.
Li, who used to run a chain of over 20 sushi restaurants in Italy, is directly importing around 30% of the wine and sourcing the rest from UK distributors, but he plans to increase his importing activities.
“I am looking into AWRS as part of my long-term plan,” he says, “but for now, the wine I import is not for wholesaling.”
Baccello is a hybrid and Li predicts that, in the first few months of trading, off-sales will only account for 20% of business.
“I could be completely wrong with my forecasting,” he admits, “but at Christmas I have a plan in place to do hampers and gifts, so I’m expecting the retail to shoot up to maybe 35%-40%.”
Future plans include Baccello own-label wine and possibly more stores to follow. “I’m fairly confident with the model,” Li says.
“I think it can be easily replicated so I’m hoping this will be one of many.”
Pairing wine and homicide
A “wine and murder escape room” is coming to Manchester Hall in the city in the autumn.
The focus of the roaring 20s murder mystery evening will be a party hosted by the fictitious Hawker Wine Estate and its wealthy owners the Von James family.
“The celebrations turn sour when a storm of vengeance, lies and deceit ruins the evening,” the bumph declares. “You must stick together, hold your nerve and beat the clock in order to escape Hawker alive”, a scenario that will be familiar to anyone who’s been on one of The Wine Merchant’s buying trips.
Join us in the black hole
No mincing words on the pop-up window on the St Andrews Wine website: “We try and inject a little joy in the horrible black hole that is social media. Please follow us. We promise it will be fun.”
The smell of piano teacher
Jancis Robinson has been on holiday and Tamlyn Currin, deputising for her in The Financial Times, has used the platform to make a case for left-field metaphors in wine descriptions, rightly pointing out that books and wine courses tend to encourage an approach that is “rigid, prescriptive and pedantic”.
“My first lesson in metaphor came from Jancis,” she writes. “Back when I was tasked with transcribing tasting notes from her hieroglyphic shorthand, I found myself typing up a tasting note for a 1976 Mosel. It read: ‘Piano teacher’. I knew exactly what she meant.
“I had a piano teacher growing up. She was 75 and parchment thin, very strict, always disapproving. I didn’t practise my scales, and my fingers were rapped with a ruler on a regular basis.
“The house smelt of potpourri and mustiness. Jancis had added a note clarifying that the term was ‘my shorthand for a smell of macerated raisins and very slightly musty velours’ but it wasn’t necessary. ‘Piano teacher’ said it all.”
Sheffield rivals keep it friendly
Sarah Hatton and Virginia Myers, who met while working at StarmoreBoss in Sheffield, have opened their own wine shop in the city under the name Tenaya.
“We were sad to leave,” admits Myers, “but they have been very supportive. Barry [Starmore] has already popped in and they’ve all offered help if we need it. There aren’t many wine places in Sheffield so there is room for both of us.”
Both shops may be on the same side of town, but topography ensures a significant separating factor. “We’re at the top of a really steep hill,” says Myers. “We are a couple of miles away and StarmoreBoss is right down in the valley.
“It seems that people have really been wanting a wine shop and bar here for a while and they’re pretty excited, so it’s great. There is lots of residential nearby and they use this high street. There’s a good mixture of people – long-term Sheffield residents as well as London transplants and people who have stayed on after university.”
Tenaya is working with suppliers including Alliance, Wines Under the Bonnet, Wayward, Flint and Indigo. Myers says: “We’ve got a broad spectrum of wine but we are aiming to specialise in California. It’s just hard to get it at the right price bracket, but we have found some lovely stuff.
“We’ve probably got more French wine at the moment. We’re trying to get things that are female-produced and which are sustainable. Obviously not everything is female-produced because that can also be hard to find, but we are trying to focus on those things.”
The premises includes a bar area to seat about 15 and Myers says there will be a list of wines available by the glass.
cap
Top: Sarah Hatton (left) and Virginia Myers and, below, the store frontage
“This will change regularly as we’ve got the whole shop to choose from,” she explains.
“It will just give people a chance to try, and of course they can pick any bottle off the shelf or out of the fridge and drink in for a small corkage fee.”
The pair will also be stocking a “small spirits range”, which includes Californian gin and vodka from St George Distillery and tequila from Ten Locks.
“We’re leaving the serious spirit sales to Jeff [Boss],” admits Myers. “He’s got everything under the sun.”
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Henley no longer a wine desert
Henley-on-Thames has long been in need of an independent wine merchant – and now two have opened within months of each other.
July saw the launch of ChinChin Henley, which is owned and run by Adrian Fry, who has already hosted three successful events at the store and has plans for many more.
“The first one was super-nervy for me,” he admits. “Although I had done things like that professionally before, this was my first time doing it with wine, but I think I’ve found my feet. They have been really well received and now I’ve got those first-night nerves out of the way, I really enjoy it.
“We’re discussing doing a Hundred Hills [the nearby sparkling wine producer] evening maybe a little closer to Christmas. I’ve taken a couple of customers to Hundred Hills for a tasting and we had a really fabulous experience there.”
After a corporate life as an HR director, Fry’s growing love of wine got the better of him. He says: “My wife and I have had a coffee shop in Henley for the past year, which has proved really successful, and when the unit next door became available we had a few sleepless nights wondering whether or not to take the plunge.”
ChinChin is a hybrid with enough seating to accommodate 12 people. The wine range is broad and evolving and currently has a strong French representation. “I wouldn’t say it’s a specialist area,” says Fry. “But we are definitely looking for a quality-to-price ratio and I think there are some really, really great wines from lesser-known regions such as Languedoc and the Loire.
“We do have wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy but we are looking outside those typical areas. I’m supported very well by Ruby Willis at Yapp.”
Fry is also working with a small number
Top: An event at ChinChin and, below, the Jacobini interior
of other suppliers including Lea & Sandeman and Thorman Hunt.
Another independent wine shop, Jacobini, opened on Hart Street last month. It’s a collaboration between owner John Hatfield, local artist Kirsten Jones and wine importer Eddie McGee.
Jones describes Jacobini as “a creative space where people can come and enjoy a glass of wine, or a bottle”.
She adds: “We do free local delivery and we have a curated collection that is unique because we have connections with vineyards in Italy and France.”
Of the 100 or so lines in stock, most are directly sourced by Hatfield and McGee as a result of their Italian and French expertise, but other countries, notably California, are also represented.
Hatfield is a fan of the enoteca model, so small plates of antipasto and tapas will be served on the premises.
Steady as she goes at Vine & Bine
Mark Stammers has launched Vine & Bine in the Solihull branch of Connolly’s, as reported in last month’s edition of The Wine Merchant.
Stammers says owning his own shop was something that had always been a possibility, but it took recent events to make him take the plunge. “I think I’d racked up over 22 years at Connolly’s,” he says, “and when Chris decided he didn’t want to renew the lease it brought things into focus and I decided, rather than getting a real job, I’d do this!”
The rebrand may have made customers a little jumpy, but Stammers says once they came in and saw the familiar faces of the team (the two other staff members stayed on with him), they were reassured.
A month since the handover, changes have been minimal. “There’s not been time to do anything radical,” says Stammers, “and there’s not anything that needed changing, it’s just going to be a case of gradual alterations as the weeks go by. The range will change to reflect more of the interests of myself and the team.
“We want to do more with craft beers: Adam, the shop manager, is passionate about his beers. Then there’s the spirits range: tequilas, rums and more niche spirits that don’t tend to get well covered in Birmingham. Distilling is a growing scene around here, and there are a number of people coming through now though, like Spirit of Birmingham. We’ve got their vodka on the shelf and they are bringing out a whisky at some point.
“There’s definitely a growing interest in local products. People are more conscious about food miles and would rather support a small local producer who, literally in the case of Spirit of Birmingham, is working up the road. We’ve seen that support on the craft beer side.”
Duty reforms Wine trade must redouble efforts
Thanks for your considered editorial (The Wine Merchant, August) about the duty reform issue that is plaguing the wine trade but not the pub trade so much.
I can see that the draught beer duty discount will be popular and, like you, have seen that the beer lobby has demanded that the reforms be implemented as soon as possible.
It was interesting that the interim government decided not to include the reforms in the published Finance Bill 2022-23 draft legislation on July 20, but did add at the end of the statement: “The government are considering the feedback received (from the consultation) and will respond in the autumn”.
Your point that the drinks industry is not united on the proposed reforms needs to be a rallying cry for the wine industry to redouble its efforts at this stage and marshal the best arguments and put them to as many MPs as possible before the autumn. Once a decision is made either way there is very little scrutiny allowed in the House of Commons and none (as far as I have been told) in the House of Lords.
The stongest argument is that, far from simplifying the tax system for wine, the policy would massively complicate it and lead to hugely increased bureaucracy throughout the supply chain.
To be honest it is hard enough trying to check that the duty and VAT that is charged against my duty deferment account at the moment is correct, even when it is fairly straightforward to charge. It will be nigh impossible to work out the correct tax if it is based on ABV, both for customs clerks and customers.
The increased burden on the system and cost since leaving the EU has been huge (£125 extra per consignment just for import and export declarations – over 200 consignments per annum in my business = £25,000+), with freight agents, hauliers and clerks taking longer to carry out their functions with the existing post-Brexit regulation changes. I fear we will look back at this period as simple in comparison to what is proposed if that comes about.
Every independent wine merchant will be adversely affected by the proposed reforms if they are enacted. We will end up paying about 10% more in duty overall, even after the sparkling wine rate is removed, but working out the new duty for every single wine, irrespective of whether we import it, buy under bond or duty paid, will also add a significant cost of bureaucracy. The tax goes up but the implementation of the tax also adds cost, relating to each individual wine we stock and sell.
I really feel there will be a lot of error involved in the paperwork, the calculation of tax (one clerk said it would be done manually for every import, on a piece of paper with calculator and pencil), the ABV being incorrectly reported, all of which will be impossible to check without a lot of extra personnel. Would you want that job?
The more I think about it, the worse it gets, and the more burden it will add to our stretched accounting resource.
Rising Stars
From making cider in Peru to starting a new life and career in the UK, Amjuly Del Carpio is blazing a trail of positivity and enthusiasm.
“Amjuly is just the perfect employee,” says Penny Edwards, owner of Cellar Door Wines. “She has great energy and just rolls her sleeves up and gets involved in every aspect of the business, which is very important in a small company because we all need to do a little bit of everything in order to make it all work. She’s re-jigged the warehouse and she has new ideas and suggests ways to improve processes in the shop. Amjuly takes pride in what she does and is constantly looking to help to improve the business.
“And the most important thing is that she wants to learn about wine and she’s crammed a whole lot of wine learning into a short space of time,” she adds.
In less than six months, apart from becoming a valued member of staff, Amjuly has completed her WSET Level 2, is just about to embark on Level 3, and has her first wine trip under her belt. This may be down to her determination to say “yes” to everything and not let any opportunities pass her by.
“When I had the chance to travel with The Wine Merchant to Portugal I was so afraid,” admits Amjuly. “But I said yes, because I always like to say yes to everything because for me it is a learning thing and we don’t have these opportunities in Peru. After the trip I was selling so much Portuguese wine because it is about the connection with the winemaker, the story behind the wine, the traditions and the respect for the product. I understand all this because of my background making cider. I always had respect for the growers, the staff in the factory and for the customers.”
After selling her business and moving with her English husband to the UK, Amjuly was worried she might not find a job in an industry that she enjoyed. But, while waiting for her visa in Peru, she put Google to good use.
“I saw that Cellar Door Wines was looking for someone and I thought this is the place I want to be,” she says. “I sent my CV and I remember Penny sent me a really nice email. When I went for my interview I was so worried about my outfit because I thought London is so
Amjuly Del Carpio
Cellar Door Wines, St Albans
glamorous and I have to look smart. I bought high heels because everyone here is so tall, and I am a small little girl from Peru. My feet were in so much pain, so you can imagine how relieved I was when Penny said: ‘No high heels here, Amjuly, because we are on our feet all day and carry boxes’.
“Working in a wine shop is hard, but I love it; it’s amazing. I am learning every day and you get to taste this amazing wine. Peru is famous for pisco but I have been looking for wineries in Peru and there are some that are making pet nat wines and interesting orange wines. If I had the opportunity I would try to bring some back to England. All my holiday plans are now about wine.”
So, what’s next, Amjuly? “I want to do this for the rest of my life,” she says. “I love working with Penny – I feel a really special connection with her and the way she thinks about business is probably the way I thought when I had my business. Penny is my boss and I try to have that respect but sometimes I see her and I just hug her! Peruvians, we want to be friends immediately with everyone and I have to try to control myself because I am so happy.”
Amjuly wins a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve NV
If you’d like to nominate a Rising Star, email claire@winemerchantmag.com
Ripponden reaps rewards of seating
Ray Nicholls at Ripponden Wine Company in West Yorkshire has rejigged his shop to include a seating area for 12 people and has extended his opening hours on Fridays and Saturdays.
“I’m over the moon with it,” he says. “Takings are up 25% on Friday to Saturday the previous week and its about 20% of the total takings just for by-the-glass sales. So for a first weekend, it couldn’t have gone better.
“It was an idea that I’d had rolling around in my head for a little while. We do two ticketed tasting evenings a month and a lot of people buy wine off the back of it.
“From there I introduced Sampling Saturday, where I would open a couple of bottles and have them on the counter and people would come and sample for free, and I wanted a way of making this a more permanent thing.
“I liked the idea of a tasting lounge where you could just roll up ad hoc and have a chat with me, be introduced to some new wines and hopefully make a purchase.”
Nicholls’s approach was cautious. He began by introducing a small seating area in the window and added a wine list. As he listened to his customers it soon became clear that there was a definite hankering for a wine bar, so he gradually grew the idea and started looking at alternatives to his Coravin. He considered other preservation systems, including Enomatic, before opting for Bermar.
“We spent the best part of four months really trying [the bar concept] out, so it has been slowly-slowly, and it’s taken us a little while to get the right model, but so far so good,” reports Nicholls.
“In reality, it’s still just me, so I’ve not had any additional staffing costs, I’ve not moved into bigger premises, so all it’s cost me is the money to redecorate and put some seating in. I’ve done it for £4,000 and £3,000 of that was for the Bermar machine. So based on the first two days, that will pay itself back in 10 weeks.”
The best evidence of its success is the customer who came in on the first night. “He lives locally, but he’d never been in before,” says Nicholls. “He came along with one of my regular customers. They had a few glasses of wine, then he bought six bottles of wine, signed up to my monthly subscription service, and said to me ‘see you next Friday’. Honestly, I couldn’t have scripted it better.”
By-the-glass sales are now 20% of weekend tastings
Crowdfunding for Grape Minds bar
Grape Minds in Summertown, Oxford, plans to open its own wine bar.
Owners Graeme Woodward and Michael Jelley have already secured the building and a crowdfunding scheme is underway.
Woodward says: “We’re looking to raise a minimum of £25,000. My gut feeling is that we’ll raise a little bit more. The Summertown community are interested and engaged so we’re quietly confident. If we don’t reach the £25k the project still goes ahead, it’s just that last little bit of money to add on the finishing touches at the end, just to elevate everything.
“I’m hoping that all those people who invest will be coming in over the first few weeks and will go on to be our best customers.”
Woodward and Jelley have created a separate limited company for The Summertown Wine Bar and gone into partnership with a third person. “We have two successful shops and the last few years have shown us that you just never know what is round the corner,” Woodward says.
“Michael and I have absolutely no ambition to work at 11pm on a Friday night – we just wouldn’t be good at it. The key to it was finding someone that would buy into the new business with us. So we have a wonderful old colleague and friend, Emily Robotham, who is going to be the third owner.
“She worked with Michael and me at Majestic and has gone on to run university bars and cellars for the last five years or so. Her passion for customer service and wine is second to none and she is the perfect person to come and work with us, so we are really excited.”
The new site is around 3,000 square feet and on the main Banbury road in Summertown, a location that Woodward describes as “magical,” and it’s just a three-minute walk away from the original Summertown shop, making all stock replenishment a fairly simple operation.
They have also engaged the services of an interior designer. “With the shops, the wine is the focus,” explains Woodward, “and that is also really important in the bar, but you have to create an environment that is luxurious so that people want to spend a whole evening.
“We expect to open late February 2023, but if everything goes absolutely perfectly, maybe we’ll open in November. We’ll probably allow ourselves to focus on Grape Minds and absolutely nailing Christmas.”
GRAHAM HOLTER
Editorial There’s a storm on its way, and this time there’s no guarantee it will miss us
It’s not something that wine merchants tend to crow about, but their businesses prove remarkably resilient whenever the economy starts making clanking noises and emitting violent bursts of steam. Recessions don’t damage specialist wine shops in quite the same way as they do other trades.
The reasons for this are often quoted in wine trade lore. The glibbest, and the easiest to discount, is that when times are hard, people need to drown their sorrows. But there’s certainly truth in the claim that, if wine drinkers are facing a squeeze on their spending, they’ll probably give restaurants a miss and economise by buying bottles to enjoy with meals at home. It would be unfair to name them, but I have certainly spoken to a number of wine merchants over the years who will quietly admit that business often booms when recession is biting.
There is also a vague sense that economic downturns don’t really affect the kind of consumers who buy from specialist wine shops. The average bottle price in our sector, according to January’s Wine Merchant trade survey, is £15.10, compared to a market average of £6.35. Large swathes of the customer base always seem to have money to spend, whatever the economic weather.
The Bank of England signalled last month that the UK will enter recession this autumn. Inflation will top 13% and remain at “very elevated levels” throughout 2023. Unemployment will increase for the next three years.
Reliable estimates say that two-thirds of households will face fuel poverty by 2023, with typical annual bills increasing from around £1,000 in early 2020 to perhaps £4,400 by the spring of next year. At the time of writing, the scale of the pain
We are about to find out how many top earners really regard wine as a necessity
that people are about to feel is only just beginning to dawn. By mid-winter, few of us are likely to have any doubts about the human impact of the abstract numbers we keep hearing on news bulletins.
Spiralling energy bills will of course hit retailers directly, which is unwelcome news in itself, especially for those who have ridden out a quiet summer and are pinning hopes on a profitable Christmas run-in. And we probably shouldn’t assume that wealthier consumers will all be able to take soaring electricity and gas bills in their stride, either.
Economics expert Duncan Weldon wrote in August: “The median income for households in the top fifth of earners in Britain is around £63,000 after tax – affluent, but not rich enough to comfortably absorb a £2,500 rise in utility bills without cutting back elsewhere.”
We are about to find out how many people in this income bracket really regard wine as a necessity – or at least the sort of wine that specialists sell. The worry is that many will revert to what they can bundle in with their supermarket shop.
In last month’s Wine Merchant, Stuart McCloskey of The Vinorium in Kent reported that his business’s average selling price per bottle has historically been £33, but the cost-of-living crisis has meant orders have “gone through the floor”. He said: “Customers who would buy from us weekly have just disappeared … it’s maybe the wider world looking at those super-premium wines and thinking: actually we can’t afford this. It’s a luxury too far.”
What can any small independent wine merchant do in such circumstances? Making sure the range includes some sub£10 bargains could be part of the strategy, but not every business can make the sums add up by relying heavily on what most specialists would regard as entry-level fare.
We know that our trade is resourceful as well as resilient. And no recession is ever so deep that people stop buying and selling wine. But anyone who believes that the gathering storm is going to miss them altogether is likely to find their optimism is misplaced.
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NOT YOU AGAIN! customers we could do without 38. Jocelyn Fettinghurst
Look, they’ve got that Sauvignon Blanc that Paula really liked … bottom shelf of that fridge … I’ll hold the door and you reach down and get it but make sure it’s from the back ‘cos the ones at the front are probably warmer … if I hold both doors open that’ll make more room for you … I don’t think they go back any further than this … can you see it? Reach right to the back … that’s it … well done, clumsy, knocking all the other bottles over! Is that the one? I think it’s the one. What do you reckon? I dunno. Maybe get two. Another one from the back but don’t let those pink ones roll onto the floor … well, you’ll just have to squeeze though, I can’t open these doors any wider can I … now what shall we get for tomorrow? This fizz looks nice but those ones at the back will be colder … you hold that door and I’ll keep hold of this one … that bloke at the counter keeps giving us the evils but he shouldn’t have so much lukewarm wine in his fridge should he? That’s it, right at the back … maybe take out some of those ones in front of it so you don’t knock any more of them over …
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JEROBOAMS TRADE AND PORT PHILLIP ESTATE
Port Phillip Estate is one of Australia’s most exciting food and wine destinations. Located on the coolclimate Mornington Peninsula, the domain is a specialist Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir producer
Lucie Parker, Jeroboams Trade
The Port Phillip wines are new to the UK market and we’ve been working together for just over a year. Our buyer Maggie McPherson had a connection with the Gjergja family and Glen Hayley and when we placed more focus on our growing trade division, it made sense to start working with a family-owned winery that fits our buying philosophy.
Our portfolio specialised in Margaret River – we are the UK agents for Moss Wood and Pierro – so we wanted to represent the regionality of Australia and something from Victoria was our next step. The Quartier range of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir have a friendly price tag and the single-vineyard wines – we’re currently stocking the Red Hill Chardonnay and Balnarring Pinot – offer something more sophisticated. So there is something for everyone who has an interest in Mornington. Our winemaking philosophy is to best preserve the inherent characteristics present in the fruit, making site-expressive wines of detail and structure. Our practices in the winery are low-intervention, and fermentation of all our wines occurs spontaneously with native ambient yeasts. This is also the case for the malolactic fermentations.
The UK is our main export market. Given our small focused production, our wines are well suited to premium on-trade and independent/specialist offtrade channels.
Port Phillip Estate is delighted to be part of Jeroboams’ enviable portfolio of well known and respected producers as well as up-and-coming stars. The Jeroboams team across all channels have indepth product, producers, and industry knowledge and relationships.
We feel it is a great affiliation.
RANGE HIGHLIGHTS
Quartier Pinot Gris RRP £20.95
Quartier Chardonnay RRP £20.95
Balnarring Pinot Noir RRP £24.95
Glen Hayley, Port Phillip Estate
Published in association with Jeroboams Trade Visit jeroboams.co.uk or call 0207 288 8888 for more information
In association with Champagne Castelnau, Champagne partner of ASO, organiser of Le Tour de France
Front row tickets at Le Tour A Champagne experience on the Champs-Elysées
Like a lot of people in the wine trade, Chris Lockett is a cycling fan. He actually uses the words “nerd” and “geek”, which sound a little more extreme. Either way, when it comes to riding bikes, or watching the pros, Chris is a huge enthusiast.
“I’ve been to a few stages of the Tour de France and also the Giro d’Italia so yes, to say I’m a fan would be a massive understatement,” he says.
“I first really got into it in 2009 – that was the Wiggins breakthrough year. He came fourth but he got bumped up to third because of the Lance Armstrong debacle. It’s just become a total obsession.”
A few years ago, a friend produced a beautifully shot film showing Chris’s scenic cycle commute to his Lockett Bros wine shop in North Berwick, which is still viewable on the shop’s website.
“Since having the shop we’ve always done cycling tours of western Scotland, visiting distilleries,” he says. “We’ve done a tour across Italy, from Milan across to Nice through Piedmont – back in 2011, I think. I’ve cycled all around Provence. I’ve ridden up Mt Ventoux six times over the years – it’s a cracker. It’s the best way to travel, for me, and soak up these regions. I’ve never been to Champagne on the bike. There’s so much more to do.”
Castelnau is the Champagne partner of ASO, organiser of Le Tour de France. Knowing that Chris was an avid follower of the competition, UK subsidiary Castelnau Wine Agencies – whose portfolio includes a host of European and new world exclusives – presented him with a VIP pass to the final stage of the race, in Paris.
It was, he says, “a fantastic experience”.
“We were in the same hotel as Team Ineos, Team Jumbo Visma and Team DSM,” he reports. “The place was buzzing and the atmosphere was electric.
“You can’t imagine the excitement I was feeling. I’m such a cycling nerd and I was thrilled that one of the other guests, Marcus Treacy from The Killarney Park Hotel in County Kerry, was equally nerdy. So as soon as we got there we necked a beer and a glass or two of Castelnau Champagne and then found our position on the barriers. A couple of hours of absolute
Chris Lockett
Left: Chris captures the action on the Champs-Elysées Above: Castelnau’s long lees ageing gives the wines their famous house style
joy watching the world’s elite cyclists battle out the final and most prestigious stage of any grand tour.
“We were like two little kids leaning over the barriers to see our heroes cycling past.
“We couldn’t have had a better spot. You see the riders coming right in front of you on that part of the lap and then five minutes later you see them coming up the other side of the boulevard at the top end of the Champs-Elysées, where they’re coming across La Place de la Concorde, and then the far side where you see them going out towards the river again and then through the tunnel and back past us.
“They do seven laps so we basically saw them go past 14 times. It couldn’t have been better. We had front-row seats and there was a massive screen right opposite us.”
Getting back to the hotel in time for a 9pm dinner reservation turned out to be a logistical nightmare in an even busier than normal Paris. “But we were all too blissed out to care, and we eventually made it to our bistro at about 9.45pm for beer, wine, great food and chat till midnight,” Chris says.
“The next morning started with getting a lift down to breakfast with Sep Kuss, one of the Jumbo Visma riders and one of the most talented climbing domestiques in the world. I didn’t lose it, but instead just played it cool in congratulating him on his team winning the yellow jersey.
“Then we were whizzing our way over to Reims and a 10.30am appointment at Champagne Castelnau. Not a Champagne I knew all that well but a thrilling tasting of four of their cuvées quickly converted me to their style. Their Brut Réserve was sensational.
“Lunch at the Bistro des Anges, in the centre of Reims, was magnificent. Snails to start, followed by fillet of beef, all helped down by numerous glasses of Castelnau Brut Réserve, rounded off the perfect couple of days.
“It was nearly as good as being on the Place de la Concorde 24 hours earlier. But nothing could quite beat that.
“Huge thanks to the whole team at Champagne Castelnau for such an incredible opportunity and one that will live on in my memory for ever.”
Castelnau’s keeping ahead
Castelnau is proud to employ one of the few female chefs de caves in Champagne, Carine Bailleul, who was shortlisted for Sparkling Winemaker of the Year in the 2021 International Wine Challenge.
The house style is contemporary and Chardonnay-focused, but also characterised by long lees aging for both non-vintage and vintage Champagnes, which gives body and complexity to the wines. This amounts to five years for the non-vintage releases and 12 years for vintages, twice as long as is usually expected.
Champagne Castelnau has pledged that all its grape growers will be certified sustainable by 2025, five years earlier than the French government requirement.
Champagne Castelnau is available in the UK via Castelnau Wine Agencies castelnau.co.uk @CastelnauUK
brig ht ideas
36: bring your own food
David Dodd Tivoli Wines, Cheltenham
In a nutshell: In a twist on the classic restaurant offer to bring your own wine, once a week Tivoli Wines invites customers to bring their own takeaway to enjoy in its upstairs Wine Library.
Tell us more …
“Firstly, we wanted to drive footfall because unless we are hosting a ticketed event, Thursdays are usually a quieter day for us in the Wine Library.
“Also we are very conscious of the cost of living crisis. A lot of people might say to us that we are insulated because we are in Cheltenham, but we’ve lost over 20% of our basket spend so far this year and we might be about 10% down on pre-Covid levels, so it does affect our customers. Trying to reduce the cost of living for our consumers is something that is on our minds at the moment and we thought that bringing in your own takeaway is a cheaper alternative to going out to local restaurants.”
This sounds like an inventive way to work with other local businesses.
“Well, even though we have said to people that they can bring food they’ve prepared themselves from home, we do try to encourage them to order takeaway because those businesses are also feeling the pinch.
“I’m part of a group called TURF, which is a really strong collection of independent restaurants, takeaways and retailers. There are about 45 of us in the group and we are all sharing ideas on how we can support each other. In some ways we are competitive with each other and in other ways we want to try to work together.”
purchasing wine by the glass. We have 32 wines on, so there’s plenty of choice.”
Have there been any clear favourites, cuisine-wise?
“I would probably say the most popular has been the local pizza place. There have also been a couple of new businesses that have opened in recent months, including a Vietnamese one that’s been a favourite.”
Talk us through the practicalities.
“The Wine Library sits 24 people and we provide the plates and cutlery. We encourage people to book but it’s fine for them to just rock up. In fact some people do just that, have a glass of wine and then realise that they can order a takeaway, then in it comes. We might ask the customers what they will be ordering in and then make some wine recommendations accordingly. We only provide wine through the Enomatics on Thursdays, so they are
Has it been good for business?
“If you look at what Majestic and the supermarkets are doing right now, it’s a consistent 25% off. They might not be losing too much money on that but it’s certainly the message they want embedded in their customers’ minds on the lead-up to Christmas. Independents can’t offer 25% off because we don’t have the margin but it doesn’t mean we should give up. There are other things we can do and this is the result of us sitting down and trying to come up with other ideas.
“Price perception will be key to success this Christmas and we want to make sure that we are getting out messages now that our customers are front and centre of our mind. We have seen some new customers that we haven’t seen before. It’s definitely drawn some new people in.”
David wins a WBC gift box containing some premium drinks and a box of chocolates.
Tell us about a bright idea that’s worked for you and you too could win a prize.
CALIFORNIAN CREATIVITY
Art and storytelling comes to life in one-of-a-kind wines by Orin Swift
Trends go in and out of style but the mannequin remains a constant. Aromas of lemon, jasmine, and a touch of yellow chrysanthemum and fresh cut pineapple. On the palate, opulent juicy peach and nectarine is balanced by an elegant finish of lemon zest, almond praline and toffee. RRP £39.99
Slander 2020
This label goes back to Dave’s time working at another Napa Valley winery. When the winemaking team collected samples, they put a piece of duct tape across the bottle and wrote in Sharpie what was in the bottle. He loved the look and it inspired this label. Black cherry and a touch of minerality. RRP £47.99
Orin Swift is a California-based wine label and creative studio.
Led by legendary winemaker Dave Phinney, the concept is a collection of art and storytelling that comes to life in one-of-a-kind labels and wine styles.
After graduating university a few years after a semester studying in Florence, Dave started working for Robert Mondavi Winery as a harvest worker. It was there he decided that if he was going to work this hard, it needed to eventually be for himself. In 1998, he founded Orin Swift Cellars. With two tons of Zinfandel and not much else, he spent the next decade making wine for others, as well as himself, and grew the company into an iconic wine house known for its uncompromising creativity.
Orin Swift wines offer incomparable storytelling behind every bottle, providing a non-traditional offering in the historically traditional luxury wine segment. Dave and his winemaking team are dedicated to expressing geographic diversity in their sourcing, creating wine blends from a range of California’s premier sites – predominantly Napa Valley. Dave sets his sights on small lots within the most coveted growing regions, ensuring that only fruit of the highest quality makes it to the final blend, resulting in a portfolio that appeals to a variety of senses. Every wine in the portfolio, from the vineyard source to the distinct artwork adorning the label, offers a unique point of view while creating a heart-skipping impression.
“There’s a soul to this business,” says Dave. “That soul isn’t just from the people who make wine, it’s from everyone who loves wines that make them feel something.”
8 Years in the Desert 2020
The wine epitomises the Orin Swift style. The aroma suggests raspberry juice and blueberry preserves with a hint of white pepper and forest floor. The perceived sweetness doesn’t carry to the palate, which is lush and enveloping with a beam of acidity. With ultra-round tannins, the wine finishes in slow motion. RRP £47.99
Machete 2018
In association with Orin Swift Cellars
Inspired by a postman driving an old cop car, Dave Phinney set up a photo shoot using Calistoga’s moonlike landscape as a backdrop for this dynamic label. Out of over 10,000 shots, the final 12 are found on bottles of this intense Petite-Syrah based blend that appears almost black in the glass. RRP £54.99
• Orin Swift wines are available from Enotria&Coe and The Vineyard Cellars Papillon 2018
The juxtaposition of delicacy and roughness – the papillon (French for butterfly) alongside the weathered farm hand reflects the nuanced but bold flavours in the wine. Aromatics of kirsch and sagebrush lead to notes of blackberry and liquorice on the palate. A beautiful, complex wine. RRP £69.99
Mercury Head 2019
Orin Swift’s flagship wine encompasses its winemaking philosophy and overall ethos. Adorned with the rare Mercury dime, Mercury Head is a quintessential Napa Cab that speaks to location and overdelivers on quality. The nose of ripe and crunchy blackcurrant recalls the vineyard aromas during harvest, along with some redcurrant, fresh thyme, sandalwood and garrigue. The profound, yet classic, palate expresses blackberry and raspberry preserves, a touch of rhubarb and black tea. RRP £138.99
Scotchman’s Hill Pinot Noir 2020
The Bellarine peninsula near Geelong in Victoria has a cool maritime climate that, on paper, suits Pinot Noir and the proof is right here in the bottle. There’s an agreeable earthiness as well as gentle plumminess and a hint of spice. The kind of wine you could confidently pour for even the pickiest Pinot perfectionist.
RRP: £29.99 ABV: 13% Cachet Wine (07712 676466) cachetwine.co.uk
Domaine de Villargeau Coteaux de Giennois 2021
Giennois doesn’t (yet) have the fanbase of Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé and so its Sauvignon Blanc-based wines still come in at very attractive price points. There’s lots to love here, from the simple, joyful fruitiness to the lime-like tang and the herbaceous details that provide that Loire Valley authenticity.
RRP: £15.99 ABV: 12.5% Daniel Lambert Wines (01656 661010) daniellambert.wine
Los Haroldos Estate Chardonnay 2021
Made with fruit from a range of Mendoza vineyards, this is a beautifully judged and unpretentious style of Chardonnay, where the acidity, tropical richness and vanilla seem to intersect at the optimal angles. All too easy to make disappear before your food reaches the table, but also a versatile dinner companion.
RRP: £12.79 ABV: 13% Condor Wines (07715 671914) condorwines.co.uk
Principia Mathematica Vi de Garatge 2020
Alemany i Corrió is Catalonia’s original garage winery, working with wild-fermented Xarel.lo from a Penedès vineyard. It’s a walk on the wild side, with swirling autolytic bakery aromas, zesty lime flavours and a nutty undercurrent. You sense that its creators achieved better school grades for art than for maths.
RRP: £21.49 ABV: 12.5% Alliance Wine (01505 506060) alliancewine.com
Château Laurou Absolue Négrette 2019
The Fronton appellation insists that Négrette makes up at least 50% of the blend but Guy Salmona – who escaped the world of tech to follow his winemaking dream – goes the whole hog here with a 100% varietal wine, made organically from a tiny plot. Its blackberry, clove and liquorice depths are a delight.
RRP: £22.99 ABV: 14% Daniel Lambert Wines (01656 661010) daniellambert.wine
Lechburg Organic Fetească Neagră 2019
Hailing from Lechinta in Transylvania, this juicy, succulent but eminently quaffable red is very comfortable in its own skin. There’s natural sweetness from the medley of red and black fruits that is typical for the variety, which is not widely appreciated beyond its Romanian and Moldovan heartland.
RRP: £21.69 ABV: 14% Vida Wines & Spirits (020 7965 7283) vidawines.co.uk
Clos Cibonne Cru Classé Tibouren 2021
Tibouren is an ancient grape variety, a favourite of Napoleon, which was almost wiped out by phylloxera but just about clung on in this corner of Provence. Lithe and silky, with rich red fruit and some black pepper, it’s blended with 10% Grenache for a little extra balance and known locally as Baby Cornas.
RRP: £29 ABV: 14% Graft Wine Co (020 3490 1210) graftwine.co.uk
Quinta do Pinto Arinto 2018
Summer may be on the way out but we can keep the sunshine alive with wines as hedonistic as this single-varietal from Lisboa, a new entry in the Delibo portfolio. An aroma of orange blossom, a palate of citrus fruits, just the right degree of sweetness and a steely, mineral edge, all rounded off by some judicious oak seasoning.
RRP: £19.20 ABV: 14% Delibo Wine Agencies (01993 886644) delibo.co.uk
Bec Hardy ad supplied separately
Favourite Things
Jake Bennett-Day
Vino Gusto, Bury St Edmunds
Favourite wine on our list My answer today is a wicked Muscadet from Domaine Haute Févrie from a single site called Gras Moutons. It has all the zip and saline zing to be expected of identikit Muscadet, but this is a really serious, savoury wine with texture and finesse.
Favourite wine and food match Overthinking a food and wine pairing can be obstructive to the sheer enjoyment you could otherwise find by eating something tasty and drinking something delicious. Give me Neapolitan pizza and chilled cru Beaujolais and I’m a happy boy.
Favourite wine trip I haven’t been to Tuscany since before the pandemic and I’m dying to get back there. The classic wines of Chianti have a special place in my heart and it’s rare to feel such genuine warmth and hospitality.
Favourite wine trade person The person I’d most like to be when I grow up is my old boss, John Hoskins MW. I adore The Old Bridge, his beautiful hotel and wine shop in Huntingdon. John epitomises the truest meaning of hospitality.
Favourite wine shop The shop that instantly springs to mind is Kernowine in Falmouth. It was such a pleasure to stumble upon a brilliantly curated list of classic and leftfield fine wine, and under-theradar value bottles from all over.
Majestic wants to open 76 branches
Majestic is calling on wine lovers across the country to help it decide where to open some 76 potential new stores.
Despite the soaring cost of doing business, the squeeze on customers’ budgets and rising online competition, the wine retailer said it will continue to invest in physical stores.
Following recent store openings in Haywards Heath and Godalming, Majestic is looking for input from shoppers, who could win a year’s supply of wine if they help it find the perfect shop.
This is Money, August 29
Majestic’s branch in Henley
On-trade rebounds but wine is lagging
The drinks trade is showing positive signs of recovery after the last two years, with average sales in pubs, bars and restaurants across Britain up 4% in the week to August 6 compared to the same period in 2019.
The latest CGA by NielsenIQ’s Drinks Recovery Tracker has revealed that ontrade drinks sales saw the best average value growth in early August since the Platinum Jubilee weekend in June this year. THE WINE MERCHANT september 2022 22
Magpie
Good weather, combined with major sporting events like the Euros final and the return of the Premier League, are thought to be responsible for the spike in sales.
Cider is on the up with 12% growth on 2019 figures. Spirits are close behind with 10% growth, followed by beer (5%) and soft drinks (5%). Wine, however, continues to see a decline in sales, down 11% from three years ago.
The Drinks Business, August 17
New breakthrough on vine disease
Wine lovers and vineyard owners can toast a possible fresh breakthrough in the battle against costly grapevine trunk diseases, the authors of a new study have said.
New research on grapevine trunk diseases has shown how fungi can collaborate to attack a vine via a kind of “extracellular bomb”.
Antioxidants may help wineries to fight back, said the international group of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Grapevine trunk diseases have been of growing concern to vineyard owners in recent decades. Almost 20% of the world’s vineyards are affected, said the International Organisation for Vine & Wine in 2015.
Decanter, August 4
• A delighted mum scored a huge bargain after flogging a bottle of 1982 Château Cos d’Estournel, Saint-Estèphe, she won in a 50p tombola for £185. Kerry Carty, 33, had no idea she had won an expensive bottle of wine at her daughter’s school fair.
