Bottoms Under (Thresher's Holding Company goes into administration)
Posted by: rodwsmith on 30 October 2009
As someone who spent twenty years working in the UK wine trade, it is with some sadness that I read of the demise of Threshers (Victoria Wine, Wine Rack, Haddows et al. - the Bottoms Up brand had already been done away with). Story
here. Even though their offering was pretty rubbish this is a huge victory for the supermarkets and a very phyrric one for the consumer.
More surprising is that with 6,500 jobs potentially on the line this doesn't make the front pages - surely a sign of the times.
Oddbins is a shadow of its former self, and only Majestic - of the chains - is any cop these days.
They should not, of course, have attempted to compete with the supermarkets in the sale of the mass-market, industrial, confected always-on-deal globowines where the Tesco and similar buying clout is simply far greater by a massive factor.
If you like wine, then it is time to find and befriend your local independent wine merchant and let them know that you want to share their vinous discoveries with them, even though they will not be able to offer them on a buy-one-get-one-free basis (a false economy in any case).
When I used to sell to Tesco their minimum stock availability requirement was 25,000 cases. This rules out about 95% of all the world's wine producers and pretty much every one of the good ones.
Of course if you're happy with Hardy's then the supermarkets now have one fewer competitor, so probably stock up on that too...
Did you know?
If you spend £2.99 on a bottle of wine in the UK, the fixed costs (VAT, duty, bottle, label, closure, cardboard box, shipping etc) will have accounted for at least 100% of the price you paid. Yes, at least. The wine itself will be none of what you paid. Someone is making a loss, and you are drinking something that has just precisely as much care put into its production as the above suggests.
If I still lived in the UK, I would be beating a path to the Wine Society's door before they close it faster than a final-salary pension scheme.
Cheers. Sort-of.
Rod
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Don Atkinson
Rod
I tend to buy most of my wine from Berry Bros - they have a nifty little shop in St James St and a warehouse a few miles from Newbury.
Generally the wine is good, whether you buy the House Red at £5 a bottle or cough up £50 for a Nuit St George.
But I must say also that Waitrose (who can't be far behind Tesco in the Villans' League of Wine Outlets)churn out a pretty consistent line of decent wines at £10 a bottle (give or take £5) and they are so much more convienient to get to.
Can you really trust a "local" wine merchant supply consistent wines to your personal taste? More to the point, I just don't think there is a "local" wine merchant within 10 miles of where I live. Perhaps there is and I just don't know about him - so Waitrose/Tesco/BBR win!
Cheers
Don
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by rodwsmith
Don,
I think that Berry Bros has to count as an independent in this context, and you are lucky to have one local, which is probably why there isn't anywhere else you have found nearby.
Even an institution as venerable as BBR however has had stories of financial insecurity circulating recently and it is probably not far off the mark to suggest that they only survive in the UK because they also operate in Hong Kong - a sad state of affairs.
Mind you if you find yourself in London then the possibilities are endless.
Waitrose are the best supermarket for wine by a country mile* and are also significantly smaller. Their wine department is stuffed full of MWs (Masters of Wine) like me, so I suppose I have to say that, but even so I think their wine offering has become more homogenous of late. Which may be because the chap that heads up their retail operation was poached from Sainsbury's.
Please don't buy wine from Tesco though (and I think you can remove the word 'wine' from that sentence). If you do, someone's livelihood, somewhere, is everso slightly damaged, ruined, or worse.
Cheers
Rod
*Unless you count the northern chain Booths, whose wine range is excellent, well thought out and priced and justifiably award winning.
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by tonym
I suppose I'm pretty fortunate in having an excellent independent wine merchant, Lay & Wheeler, a short journey away, and our second home in the Lake District is within a short stroll of Booths.
Much as I love to go to Lay & Wheeler for the occasional case or three, nevertheless the local Tesco still gets the majority of my business. I don't go in for their really cheap stuff but some of their wines are very decent. It's not so much the price, more the convenience.
We've a local Solar (another name for the Co-Op in these parts) which IMO has some excellent bargains, much of it Fair Trade.
I think the majority of people who enjoy a drop or two of wine will tend to go to a mix of places to get it but personally I've always avoided Threshers - poor and overpriced. I shan't miss them.
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Derry
Cheap supermatket wine is rarely bad; expensive non-supermarket wine is not always better - just like hi-fi...
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Roy T
Every now and then when drinking for oblivion I nab a bottle of something red and new world from my local supermarket and get exactly what I pay for although when visiting a friend who lives within walking distance of a Waitrose we share a better class of wine.
A while ago I wandered into an Oddbins (not small but not a supermarket) seeking something slightly above supermarket plonk so before heading for the New World section I asked for advice from the person behind the counter and struck gold. In a flash the assistant stopped whatever she was doing, flashed me a smile and asked "What food would be eaten with the win?", my reply of pesto & pasts triggered a reply of "Green or red pesto?" Now someone who seemed to know what they were talking about, someone who listened to my answers and someone who enjoyed what they were doing. We headed towards the Old World Reds and as she pointed to various shelves and bottles she kept up a conversation telling of grape types, tastes, price, serving conditions and a few other bits of information. For my part I indicated price range and if possible something not from France, this did not phase her at all.
I settled for a Rioja to opened an hour or so prior to serving and to be served at room temperature, it all set me back rather more than a bottle of plonk but it was money well spent. I visit once every couple of weeks and it goes to show that price is not the only indicator of a good bottle or two.
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Derek Wright
quote:
I would be beating a path to the Wine Society's door before they close it faster than a final-salary pension scheme.
Do you mean the IEWC Wine Society from Stevenage - what info do you have that is in the clag - it is a member owned business.
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by rodwsmith
Derek, sorry to panic you - before they close the door, I meant.
In perfectly rude health as far as I am aware and one of the pleasantest, most respected and talented buying teams in the UK headed by Sebastian Payne MW and Marcel Orford-Williams.
But as a member-owned business there will need to be a ceiling on how many there are allowed in (if it is to maintain its standards, which it will), and I'd rather be in than out, just in case they get there.
Wine is a weird thing when it comes to saving money it seems to me. It is still believable - and I am sure quite usual - for people to turn up at a dinner party and boast of how little they have "managed to spend" on a bottle of wine. "This only cost me x.xx." (Used to be 'in Calais', although that particular avenue of pleasure has been closed off by G Brown's economic policies, amongst other things)
I'm certain that if a similar boast was made about the meal's food ingredients, there would be few repeat visitors.
I have to disagree Derry - cheap supermarket wine is quite frequently bad - in the sense that much of it is just alcoholic fruit cocktail with a healthy whack of sugar left in. That lots of people quite like this doesn't stop it being 'bad', although it will be safe and cheap. The hi-fi parallel is perfectly just though. Whether Matsui or Bose, it will always be possible to do better - if you know where to look.
Once upon a time - and not that long ago - one in four bottles of wine sold in the UK was Liebfraumilch. That wasn't 'bad' at the time (presumably) either but its then customers would turn their noses up at it now.
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Don Atkinson
quote:
.......Liebfraumilch. That wasn't 'bad' at the time (presumably) either but its then customers would turn their noses up at it now.
Oh dear!!!!!
Mrs D would disagree, Liebfraumilch and Blue Nun still features in her list of favourites, although she also likes Piesporters and Reislings.
Cheers
Don
Posted on: 30 October 2009 by Roy T
Don,
Black Tower also favoured by some of a certain age.
