M&S launches Christmas tasting event

M&S has launched a three-day pre-Christmas tasting event in store, which includes sampling of some of its new festive drinks.

The retailer’s Taste of Christmas event is being run in around 600 stores from now until Sunday, which will see it offer samples of new canapés, snacks and desserts from its Christmas range to shoppers.

Festive drinks included in the event include samples of Mince Pie Martinis, Christmas Cake Liqueurs and its newly-launched Christmas Cobbler (RRP: £12 for 50cl) a contemporary American inspired pre-mixed sherry cocktail comprising Oloroso sherry, rum, beetroot, Calvados and apple juice.

Staff will also be on on-hand with advice on drink to pair with Christmas food and canapés, the retailer said, and the event has been timed to run as it airs the last of its four seasonal adverts.

Sacha Berendji, director of retail at M&S said: “The taste events are a great way for our teams in stores to make the run up to Christmas special for our customers.

It comes after M&S launched a range of seasonal beers, cocktails, spirits and liqueurs range in store that includes a number of ready-to-drink cocktails and post-dinner liqueurs, including a Gold Crème Brulée Liqueur, Egg Nog Cream, and a Chocolate & Clementine Cream.

It has also boosted its range of gins, with a pre-mixed gin cocktail No Big Dill Cocktail alongside two gins, Zest and Spice, from the Thames Distillery in Clapham (RRP: £26 for 70cl, £10 for 20cl), a pink Grapefruit Gin (RRP: £14 for 50cl), Sipsmith’s Lemon Drizzle Gin (RRP: £22), Silent Pool Gin (RRP: £37) and Boodles Mulberry Gin (RRP: £21). Small-batch rums from Guatemala, Belize and the Philippines has also been added to the range.

Recent additions

In addition to its seasonal lines, the retailer recently expanded its range of Champagnes with a selection of high end luxury brands going on shelf for the first time. Winemaker Sue Daniels explained that Champagne was going through “an interesting phase”, with demands from many markets outside the UK and France and it was therefore “critical” as a retailer of exclusive and prestige labels for M&S to forge strong partnerships. New brands in store include Louis Roederer Cristal (RRP: £150), Lanson Extra Age (RRP: £45), Femme Duval Leroy (RRP: £110), Bollinger Rosé (RRP: £50) and Taittinger Comtes de Champagne (RRP: £120), as well as a new Louis Vertay Brut (RRP: £32), the result of the retailer’s new partnership with Champagne E. Michel’s cellar master Sandrine Logette-Jardin, and a Vintage Grand Cru 2009 De Saint Gall.

The retailer has also refreshed its selection of Bordeaux wines, where it is traditionally strong, with the addition of new wines made in partnership with existing partners. These include a Saint-Julien de Lurton from Château Gloria (RRP: £20) with the Lurton family, a Haut-Médoc from Château Clarke (RRP: £14) in partnership with the Rothschild family, and a Saint-Estèphe from with Tour de Pez, which will set to complete the trio in January.

M&S has also bolstered its range fine wines ahead of Christmas, after seeing “phenomenal” sales growth of over 40% sales growth in its fine wine range. New small parcels of fine wine are coming from Château Cure-Bourse Margaux (RRP: £30) Château Haut-Corbin Saint-Emilion Grand Cru (RPP: £35) and Pavillon du Glana Saint-Julien (RRP: £25). Looking beyond France, it has added a smattering of fine wines from Burgundy, Italy with a Livio Felluga Pinot Grigio (RRP: £32), Spain, Argentina including Susanna Balbo Tradición Finca Gualta (RRP: £28), and California’s Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir ‘Le Bauge’ (RRP: £36) from the Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma County.

South Africa has been another focus this year, with winemaker Sue Daniels and buyer Dror Nativ looking at more “pioneering” styles, it said, with new wines including Boehoek Semillon from Franschhoek, Leeuwenkuil Bushvine Cinsault and Iona One Man Band, as well as the new “Weather Station” range (RRP: £7), comprising Pinot Grigio and Malbec from the Western Cape.

Last month the retailer announced it would boost the number of Simply Food outlets by 200 in a major two-year overhaul of its store estate, that would see it cut space and stores in its loss-making clothing outlets.