With just under two weeks until our portfolio tasting, being held st London Paddington Stn Novotel, here is a little snap shot of what’s on offer. If your a wine trade professional you really don’t want to miss out.
First up is the lovely #Champagne from De St Gall. They only make 1er and Grand Cru wines, and with ownership of over 900 ha within the region they are the go to Champagne producer.
Moving to #Wales we have @montgomery_vy and their fabulous range of still and sparkling wines. Their wines are so popular that the demand is out stripping supply. With larger vineyards on the way this is a must have U.K. made product for the very best wine merchants.
Next the Loire Valley where we have a host of wineries for you. Sancerre, Jasnieres, Muscadet, Fieff Vendeens, Coteaux de Giennois & Valencay. Despite the very small crop of 2021 we have secured stocks from all these regions due to our long standing partnerships with our growers.
Now we take you to Provence. Chateau Maime is a small family owned property in the heart of the Var. The wines are very typical for the region and of course it’s all about the Rose. However we have their White and Red too!
Now we turn our attention to Burgundy and the widest selection of wines at our portfolio event. With 40 wines to try once again we are lucky to have very strong partnerships in the region despite the shortage from the 2021 vintage.
Now the other classic region of France & we are Bordeaux bound. Being half Bordelaise myself I will always have a soft spot for the wines. Moreover it’s the home our oldest & fondest agency. That is of course @chateaufilhot. We do of course have a broad range in all styles.
Next up and probably our most well known agency it is of course our Languedoc range. It’s needs little introduction but this year all the wines will either be new creations or new vintages. With 27 wines to try its going to be quite a discovery for some!
No tour of France would be complete without a quick dash to the Rhône Valley. Northern or Southern Rhône we have both!
Final stop in France is our diverse range of wines from the South West. We have added some outstanding wines to this part of our range over the past year and this tasting will be there first outing! Moreover organics come into its own here!
We now head northeast to are friends in Austria and Germany. The lighter style wines from these two countries are proving to be extremely popular with all our customers. From Gruner to St Laurent we have a broad selection on tasting. Take the time to discover the amazing wines.
Now back south to my second favourite part of the world and that’s Spain and Portugal. We have two completely new agencies here and more is in the pipeline. Our old favs from Priorat and Rioja will of course be present but we also have some newbies too! Hola nos vinos!
Time to leave Europe & go further afield now. Over the past 5 years we have developed a strong but small range of wines from North America. All sensible on price but offering exceptional quality. From Canada, New York State and California we have five properties that stand out.
Finally in our epic journey around the world in 200 wines we have South Africa and Australia. All three ranges offer something interesting and a break from the run of the mill wines you would expect.
I really hope you all find the time to come along. 211 wines from 11 countries with 20+ suppliers flying in especially to meet the U.K. market. See you on the 22 March!
That just leaves to say enjoy the sights of Stellenbosch with this little video I took a few years ago.
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I have said everything there is to say about just how bad the removal of easement is, and it will have a catastrophic effect on both on and off wine sales in the UK. Everyone in industry agrees. But this issue has revealed a fundamental problem within the trade.
The trade itself does not act with one voice. Many look to the WSTA but sadly (and I do mean this) it’s very unfortunate their lobbying is not working. Then you have a few lone voices like mine and others who bang the drum, but equally not have much effect.
The government policy is not fully understood by members of the trade still and the implications not realised, let alone the public who to be honest will not have the first idea what’s going on. To change this whole situation is challenging at best.
Since 2021 I have consistently and regularly reminded people in the UK Wine industry that the Prohibitionist plan to seriously disrupt, and to an extent, destroy the UK wine industry needs to be taken seriously. It’s SME that will feel most of the pain. Here is why…
The policy was created in 2019 and goes under the guise of taxing all alcohol on strength rather than volume. It was written deliberately, by the anti alcohol think tank, to maximise disruption to the largest sector in the UK this being Wine.
Please don’t mis-understand this is not about the amount of tax paid but how that collection of tax is administered. This simple point is being missed by so many people and because it is difficult to understand unless you work on the front line is why the policy has got this far.
I think it’s time for a reminder of the reason why you the consumer are continually screwed over by the elites in the UK. As a front line business to border controls I see the direct effect of Brexit daily. But they’re not finished with this shit show. So here we go…
Firstly the actual vote was advisory and therefore did not have all the normal restrictions applied, but even so the electoral commission advised the result was unsafe and illegal. But that doesn’t matter because Cameron ran away only to get a peerage 6 years later.
Then Brexit happened with with a terrible deal just 7 days before implementation. Nobody really had time to react to get all their ducks in a row. 16 days after Brexit the head of HMRC called me to apologise for the EU tariff code U110 not being applied to the import portal.
As a member of the wine trade for over 33 years and a business owner for all of that time I have seen a dramatic change over the decades. But yesterday news on the tax take was quite incredible. Here is why and why you should be concerned.
The tax receipts for Alcohol were as follows as reported by HMRC and posted yesterday by @GavinQuinney.
Between Sept ‘23 & Aug ‘24, year-on-year receipts were:
So why have they dropped by over £1.3 BILLION?, well the simple answer is the dreadful Alcohol Reform Policy that @RishiSunak brought in during 2022. At the time I warned it would damage the drinks industry, I was right.
I’m a pretty patient guy. On the 23rd April I asked a really basic question to my MP. I asked the same question to the previous government several times earlier. The question was this…
Will you remove or keep the wine excise easement after February 2025? This is a simple yes or no question. It not loaded in any way. Now I’m not being funny but a question this simple does not take much time to understand and answer.
But its now nearly September and I still have not been given an answer. That’s quite significant for me and the wine industry in the UK because it works around 6-9 months ahead of time for the supply chains.
Here is a little thread about how the world sees the uk. I’m currently in Mexico at a global wine event. The hospitality and welcome that has been shown to all the delegates is incredible. But the one point that everyone I have spoken to is that Brexit has isolated the UK.
At this event there are 45 nationalities in attendance from all over the world 🌎. There are a total of 330 trade professionals in total. So it’s a very solid group to get a global view. I’ve spoken to many people thus far & that been amazing. The wine trade is a global village.
The comments from everyone has been the same regarding the UK, why did the UK leave such an important trading block and this must be hurting your businesses and economy badly.