This week I 'ave been mostly drinking...

This week I 'ave been mostly drinking...

Russell Wallace, General Manager

This week I ‘ave been mostly drinking… sensible wine! Ok bare with me on his one, and I will try my best not to get too grumpy. Came home from the shops on Saturday morning with the Times and my milk, sat down ready to enjoy a lazy morning read.  Sadly, this was spoilt by the “wine headline” which read simply, “The £5.99 sparkling wine the critics are raving about”. Well, that just spoilt my day and I didn’t even read the paper in protest!

I have tried to explain a few times before my issue here, and many of you do seem to understand and appreciate the principle except, it would seem, the newspaper wine critics are intent on recommending nothing if it does not hit a £5-6 price tag. Most of our clients appreciate that there is a minimum value that we must pay for well made wine that offers sustainability for producers that care about what they are doing.  Each year this price tag sadly grows as the Chancellor increases alcohol duty rates and indeed fuel duties to transport wine to the UK and to your home/local wine shop. Currently alcohol duty stands for a sparkling wine at £2.56 per bottle (plus VAT on the duty and the wine!). So, maths lesson time again (below figures are approximates):

Wine Cost = £5.99

Less 20% VAT then less £2.56 Duty = £2.44

Less Transport and Non-consumables = £1.84

Less Margin for Retailer = £0.70

£0.70 left in value for your £5.99 sparkling wine, presuming that the retailer has imported this wine themselves, which in the case of the multiples is surprisingly rare, but we will give them the benefit of doubt.

Now, that 70 pence also has to cover some kind of profit for the producer so in reality we would estimate that at most the actual value of what you are drinking would be 40-50 pence, but probably less!

Consider now that this wine is a Cava, yes I know it is rather uncool, but my issue is that Cava is a traditional method sparkler so the method of production is relatively expensive and time consuming. Now, if it were a charmat method sparkler (like a Prosecco), I might be more able to grasp this (but still struggling), however I just cannot see how supporting this type of wine is in any way supporting producers of good value driven wine. I will allow you to speculate on how many bottles en-mass a vineyard would have to produce to just cover their costs.

So, why not try the splendid Bodegas Escudero Cava Seco Benito Escudero, organically farmed with love, labour and a passion for what they are doing. It is one of a few Cava you will find produced in Rioja. Yes, it is considerably more expensive than the Times’ recommendation, but it is worth every penny extra and, I would argue, significantly better value for money.

Dianne Barrie, Company Administrator

No surprise that this week I’ve been mostly drinking no wine! It’s safe to say that I have been far too preoccupied with Christmas - in fact, what with having just moved house, it would seem that I’m going to spend the last two weekends before Christmas present buying and wrapping, Christmas card writing and attempting to make the house as festive as possible (amid a whole bunch of boxes still to unpack!). 

I do, however, have a cunning plan to save myself from standing in endless queues of last-minute shoppers in department stores and to give my family and friends some very special treats this Christmas. You see, over the last month or so there have been some great new product lines arriving in to Exel Wines. Whether you are looking for a gift for that special someone, such as Henschke Keyneton Estate Shiraz Cabernet Merlot 2002, a fabulous little stocking filler, such as Sheep Dip Harris Tweed Hip Flask With 1 X 5cl or something just a little bit different like Wines That Rock Rolling Stones Forty Licks Merlot 2010 or Strathearn Distillery Heather Rose Gin, all these can be purchased and delivered straight to your door without even having to leave the comfort of your armchair…simples! 

Perhaps I will have some time next weekend to treat myself to a pre-Christmas glass or two of wine after all! 

Clive Holroyd, Database Manager

Number one son was back from University for a flying visit at the week-end. I've grumbled before about how inadequate 75cl is when you find a particularly good wine and given the amount of dedication he seems to apply to studying alcoholic beverages (if only that was the course he was doing) I knew that a little extra would be called for. A chance conversation with him shortly before he came down led to the discovery that he's quite fond of the products of Innis & Gunn. Now I enjoy a good real ale or craft beer myself from time to time, so I thought fill him up on the fizzy stuff and he won't drink so much of the wine. (Am I painting a terrible picture of today's students?). I'm not so familiar with Innis & Gunn, so I got both the Original Oak Aged and the Rum Finish Oak Aged, both of which were excellent. The Rum Finish is quite surprising, it reminded me somewhat of a Belgian Dubbel and the Original is deliciously rounded golden ale; it worked well on a chilly winter afternoon, but I suspect would be equally appropriate when those warm summer evenings roll in again. 

And the wine? My new second favourite wine, the Cousino Macul Antiguas Reservas Merlot, yes I raided the bottles I was supposed to be saving for Christmas. Oh well.