Dabbler wine correspondent Henry Jeffreys reports on the new breed of wine merchants…
Do you remember when bookshops started sprouting coffee shops? People will come for a coffee, browse and end up buying a book or so the logic went. Something similar is happening with wine merchants. Traditionally they were forbidding church-like places where you had to whisper and then had your pronunciation of Montrachet corrected (both the ‘t’s are silent). I remember a visit in my early 20s to a well-known firm who shall remain nameless. They had some aged Australian riesling – a Pewsey Vale – on offer at £5 a bottle. I asked the young man behind the counter whether it was any good and he looked down his nose and drawled ‘it’s Australian riesling’ and shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘how good could it be?’ Well more fool him because it was delicious. Anyway I digress, shops like this do still exist and can even be relished once you have demonstrated to the staff either through knowledge or preferably money that you are to be taken seriously. Recently, however, they have been joined by a new wave of merchants.
These young Turks are trying something heretical to traditional British retail: they are encouraging their customers to linger. The most potent weapon in their armoury is a machine called an Enomatic. This holds open bottles of wine blanketed in an inert gas so that they don’t’ go off. You are then issued with a card onto which you put money and by putting it in the machine you can obtain tasting-size portions of wine. A taste of a nice sub £20 burgundy will be under a pound or you can splash out £8 on three mouthfuls of Chateau Margaux 1998. Rather than go to a pub or bar, I now meet fellow wine bores in places such as the Sampler on Upper Street or Bottle Apostle in Hackney, we taste and sometimes even buy a bottle.
The line between wine merchant and bar is becoming increasingly blurred. At Fortnum & Mason one can buy a bottle of wine, pay £10 corkage and drink it with some cold meats in the bar. One of my favourite small shops, Planet of the Grapes, has a wine bar in the City. Waitrose have got in on the act with a bar in their Canary Wharf branch. Some restaurants such at St John Bread & Wine in Spitalfields now sell wine for consumption off the premises. There’s something delightfully old-fashioned about this lack of retail rigidity. One is reminded of those grocery shops in Ireland that have a bar in them.
Now the coffee shop didn’t save the high street bookseller. All the bookshops have closed to be replaced with. . . coffee shops. But whereas even the most obscure book can be found on Amazon cheaper, the specialist wine merchant has access to products made in such small quantities that they are unavailable elsewhere.
Furthermore thanks to these tasting machines, they can offer mild intoxication whilst you shop. Throw in a little salami and how can they go wrong?
I’ve based this article on places I know in London. If anyone has any good recommendations either outside or in the capital please comment below.
The new Vino in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge: enoticas, enthusiasts, AND within 100 yards of Bell’s Diner/The Bailie/The Antiquary/The Saint/The Raconteur/The Stockbridge Tap. It’s even next door to what was until recently a Nicholas (they are still getting through the old Nicholas stock of Petites Recoltes, the ones from the du pain..du vin..du boursin adverts. Over the road is a new branch of Cafe Fish which the locals treat as a pub, and a little way further down, a new French deli which does wine by the glass, and Hectors, and really it takes willpower to get home at all.
When I lived in Sutton, Surrey, the nearest half-decent watering hole was in Kingston Upon Thames, 45 minutes away by bus, or in Wimbledon, ditto. All things pass in time.
Further to the thread that followed Philip’s post of yesterday, I have a hunch this is the way high street retail is going to go. Shops will be places you go for experiences as much as to buy things to take away. I wonder whether the old reference to ‘retail theatre’ may even occasionally become something of a literal description.
You are right Gaw. These places offer a sense of community. Complete strangers talk to each other in a way they rarely do in London pubs. How could I have forgotten the amazing Valvona & Crolla in Edinburgh who have been doing something like this for years.
I imagine there must be places in Manchester and Leeds too.
I think wine does indeed lend itself to amiable customers who like to linger, and an opportunity to provide a bit of theatre and aspirational environs (coffee machine, some olive oil and a world music cd of french accordian stuff) . Also not forgetting the old wine shop trick of letting people eat a nice strong cheese (manchego?) before wine sipping, that cushions the palette from any scary flavours and renders most things drinkable….
Not sure every store should go down the retail theatre route, B&Q for instance. However Agent Provocateur should be positively encouraged
The Oxford Wine Cafe, on South Parade Road is a wonderful place to linger, sample wine, have a small plate of chaucuterie, read a book and then buy a bottle of the wine you just sampled. Had an outstanding glass of white burgundy there on Friday, whilst finishing off ‘The Tiger’s Wife’ by Tea Obrecht. They stock lots of unusual wines from small vinyards, really know their onions (as it were) and are extremely friendly and unpretentious, which is of itself rather nice in Oxford.
The first place I ever saw an enomatic was New York’s Union Square Wines. You’d get points to use on the enomatic according to how much you spent. Still took the locals a while to get used to it.
Worm, I whole heartedly agree with your comment about Agent Provocateur. I find my husband is much happier and willing to open up his wallet when he gets to watch me trying it all on. Perhaps that’s another Dabbler piece. . . You’d be surprised how many stores won’t allow it when it’s just the kind of thing that obviously boosts sales.
Oh and Mr. Jeffreys? This is yet another well written article.