A Revue of the Wine Trade 2009

What a turbulent year we have had, if you read the press, banks are going bust, taking our money with them, the stock market is in turmoil, there is no where to invest you money, safely. Some say that that the best investment and with the best return on your capital is W I N E! The canny investor has been piling in to the top end wines of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone. Recently we have seen some exceptional years, 2005 in Bordeaux was an outstanding year and 2007 in the Rhone is also magnificent. Even Mr Parker has reassessed what a great year it was in the Rhone Valley. And guess where all the shrewd money is going; before the crash Château Lafite was selling for £3,500 and eventually rose to sell at up to £10,000 a case. A fine return on your investment and guess what? Because wine is deemed to be a wasting asset there is no Capital Gains Tax. There is no better investment and nobody enjoyed ever eating a share certificate!!!

We have seen insane offers on the High Street to try to generate cash flow. This has been at huge cost to the individual wanting to buy a single bottle. We have seen palate loads of inferior wine at supermarket doors to whom new world wine makers have donated second rate mass produced wine just to keep their name on the shelves.

Now we see the Threshers Group go to the wall trying to compete with the supermarkets and we see Majestic churning out the same new world stuff. They are perceived to be cheap but I have recently conducted a survey and found at least 13 wines to be at least two pounds more expensive than can be found on our shelves

I have been asked repeatedly, how do we compete with the likes of Tesco etc?; We dont - they compete with us! Our range is more interesting, we know its origins, how it is made and on many occasions we know the wine maker personally. Our expertise is what differentiates us from the supermarkets.

As for our range; we have, on average, over 700 different wines. We stock wine the same estate from different the vintages (the 80,s, 90,s and 00,s) so comparisons can be made. We have wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Loire and Alsace, and also from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, England, Germany, Lebanon, South Africa, Spain, and New Zealand.

As an example we have FIVE vintages of Château Musar from the Lebanon and we also stock half bottles and magnums. We have wines from under £5.00 to over £500, AND above all we are still here, still trading and looking forward to seeing all our customers in the shop.

At the Tasting on the 27th November we will have four tables and a selection of wines to make the palate salivate. It starts at 6pm. Dont miss the opportunity of the month. be here to meet you friends or bring you own - friends I mean.

Neil Bingham