How UK wine merchants are reacting to market challenges
At a tasting yesterday by six of the UK’s top independent wine merchants, it was clear that a challenging market was forcing buyers to embrace more obscure regions, producers and varieties to keep their offer high in quality but accessible in price.
Chair of the group of merchants, which are dubbed The Bunch, is Siobhán Astbury, who is buying director at Haynes Hanson & Clark, one of the six retailers, along with Corney & Barrow, Lea & Sandeman, Private Cellar, Tanners and Yapp Brothers.
At the event, she told db that it was “more important then ever before” in her buying career to make sure that the wines at the tasting and on the shelves of independent wine merchants in the UK “were relevant”, and by that she meant “not wines that are out of reach”, referring to their pricing.
Consequently, she said, “We spend so much time seeking out wines that are sub £20,” adding that this is drawing her towards “affordable Bordeaux and southern France,” along with “cru Beaujolais” – the latter area because she also looking to sate a demand for “lighter reds”.
Continuing she noted that “value counts for a lot, and, as a buyer, I’m always being asking for wines [retailing] at £17-18, which is a sweet spot for value.”
Aside from the efforts made by such merchants to seek out fine, relatively-affordable wines, that tend to be more esoteric compared to those stocked by the major multiples, Astbury said that Haynes Hanson & Clark and the other merchants grouped together at the tasting in London yesterday offer “really good service as well as delicious wines, which is a huge advantage – we know the people who walk into our shops.”
Also speaking to db at the tasting was Tanners’ chairman James Tanner, who said that the wine market in the UK “seems to be at a crossroads”, before commenting that people are still yet to really get used to the fact that good wine is now £20 a bottle, which does mean “there is a bit of a hiatus.”
While such a price repositioning is out of the merchants’ control – a product of increased tax and other inflationary factors, be it staff wages or production costs – Tanner also told db that he believed that in time people would get used to the new higher price of wine.
“They will adjust; there’s a new world coming,” he said.
For now, Corney & Barrow buyer and associate director, Rebecca Palmer bemoaned the huge challenges of selling wine in the UK from the “red tape” to the tax system now based on 0.5% increments in ABV, as well as the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, and in the future, a certificate of inspection (COI) for organic wine from Europe.
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She and others are bracing themselves for the imposition of the latter in the UK, which Palmer said would be “a disincentive for being organic”.
Meanwhile, Astbury commented on the benefits of being part of The Bunch, “It so nice to taste each other’s wines and see the different buyers’ styles; we are friends, we collaborate, but we also compete,” she summed up.
Presently, the range of wines on show were eclectic, fine, and mostly fairly affordable, and I have picked out a few of note below – with some over £20, but still, in my view, offering relative value. Restricting myself to just one wine per merchant, these are the ones I would be most tempted to buy.
Cuvée Marraine Pooks Traditional Method Brut 2016, Breaky Bottom, East Sussex, England (Corney & Barrow)
- UK retail price: £48
An impressively fruity yet typically fresh English fizz made from Seyval Blanc planted in 1974, and made without malo-lactic and a bottled with an Extra Brut dosage after 7 years on the lees.
Savigny-Les-Beaunes Premier Cru Lavières, Domaine Seguin-Manuel, 2021 (Haynes Hanson & Clark)
- UK retail price: £36 (as part of a case).
Proof that Burgundy can produce really fine, fresh and yet sweet Pinot Noir sub £50 is this Savigny-Les-Beaune from the cooler 2021 vintage which buyer Siobhán Asbury said she “loved” for its “immediate charm”.
Rasteau Les Coteaux, Domaine des Escaravailles, 2022 (Lea & Sandeman)
- UK retail price: £17.95
A lot of wine for sub £20, this Grenache dominant blend with Syrah is packed with sweet ripe red fruit, but with plenty of freshness, spice and dry tannin to make your mouth water.
Le Saut de Loup Chardonnay, Domaine du Château de Demigny, 2022 (Private Cellar)
- UK retail price: £20.75
A seriously good nutty-fresh barrel-aged Chardonnay that’s great value because “it’s on the wrong side of the motorway”, in the words of buyer Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW, who then explained, “it’s just 15 minutes east of Chassagne Montrachet, and as a result is classified as a humble IGP.”
La Cabane Reserve Grenache/Syrah, Pays d’Oc 2024
- UK retail price: £10.90
I’d be delighted if I were served this juicy, sweet-fruited but also peppery-fresh red with a pizza or charcuterie in any basic restaurant – or indeed the white equivalent too, which is the same price but made with Marsanne and Viognier. From the modern and high-quality LGI cooperative in Carcassonne.
Les Rocs, Domaine Roquemale, Languedoc, 2024 (Yapp Brothers)
- UK retail price: £18.50
An excellent full-bodied but bitter-fresh white wine from Villeveyrac, which is just west of Montpelier, using a wide range of local organically-grown grapes from Marsanne and Roussanne to Grenache Blanc and Gris, along with Viognier, Rolle and Piquepoul.
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