Independent wine merchant of the year
Laithwaites
The Wine Society
Berry Bros. & Rudd
Small Independent Wine Merchant of the Year
The Sampler, Islington, London
The Secret Cellar, Tunbridge Wells
Vinoteca, Farringdon, London
D Byrne & Co, Clithero
Online Wine Merchant of the Year
The Wine Society
SA Wines Online
Tesco
Majestic
Supermarket of the Year
Tesco
Marks & Spencer
Waitrose
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Berry Bros. & Rudd
A perennial favourite, BBR was shortlisted due to its consistent performance, customer service, range, and for its efforts to bring wine to a much larger audience, going far beyond its remit as a wine merchant. Despite recently closing its Heathrow store, the London-based wine merchant has gone from strength to strength, extending its £7-12 range and boasting a hugely successful 2005 En Primeur campaign, which made more than the 10 last En Primeur campaigns put together. BBR's events line-up is particularly impressive, via members-only dinners, tastings and wine school events in the cellars underneath their shop on St James’s Street. It has also just launched a podcast service, increasing its already enviable online presence.
The Sampler
The Sampler is a totally new wine merchant (it opened in Islington last November) and gives customers a very new experience of a wine shop via the dispensing of individual samples from the various wines on sale. It is the first wine merchant to offer such a service and its eclectic range of 650 wines is organised by grape variety because of this. Customers can choose to taste up to 80 samples (costing from 28p to over £30 per sample). They even provide a detailed tasting note and technical data alongside each sample. It has already started to gain quite a following.
The Secret Cellar
No secret to many, Tunbridge Wells' Secret Cellar has built quite a reputation for itself in just under two years of business. Its range covers all corners of the wine world, from Cornish Pinot Noir to Henschke’s Hill of Grace. It has recently revamped its entire regional French listing and now imports directly from many small French producers. The merchant is also pushing to expand customers’ wine horizons by offering evening events and weekly in-store tastings – the latter are free.
D Byrne & Co
This Lancashire favourite does not publish its wine list for the simple reason that its portfolio is constantly changing – and is so huge. D Byrne could make the shortlist for the size of its collection alone. It boasts a massive range of old world and new world classics. In fact, for many wine-lovers the ‘child in a sweetshop’ analogy is not far from the mark – its customer base is equally impressive and, it says, loyal. The retailer is also not tied to any buying groups, making it almost wholly independent.
Laithwaites
One of the most successful direct-to-door wine merchants, Laithwaites offers a range of over 3,000 wines and delivers to all parts of the UK. Their wines are sourced from over 500 supppliers in 20 different countries. But it doesn’t stop there. The company has sourced over 1,700 new wines, its Burgundy range alone has doubled and it is stocking new wines from Georgia, Italy, Romania and Brazil – all in the last 12 months. Its approach to customer service is also highly commendable, with an average delivery times of three days, 90% of calls answered within 16 seconds, and over 100 call centre staff boasting WSET qualifications.
Tesco
Tesco serves a wider cross-section of the British public than any other supermarket. However, that’s not the reason it was shortlisted. The retail giant has recently upped its game in the wine sphere, improving its Finest* range in partnership with top winemakers including Ken Forrester and Geoff Merrill, amid signs that it is committed to quality as well as quantity. It has also expanded its Wine Club Fairs to include London, Manchester and Bristol, allowing 6,000 people to taste over 250 wines. Tesco also says it is committed to leading the way in lower alcohol wines.
Marks & Spencer
M&S wines are exclusive to the retailer, making it unique in its category. It employs two full-time winemakers to oversee the production of its wines. It also scored points for listing heritage, provenance and other useful information on the labels of each wine. The retailer’s wine list was further augmented this year by the addition of 80 new wines bringing its portfolio to 450 wines. M&S is also focussing on lesser-known regions, ethical produce and low-alcohol wines, plus an increased organic wine range.
Waitrose
Last year’s winner continues to boast impressive credentials, with more MWs than any other supermarket. In the last year, it launched its first Burgundy En Primeur offer for the 2005 vintage, ran two highly successful Wine Showcases, launched a new range of English wines, improved its top-end Rhone list and expanded its list with interesting and unusual wines including offerings from Picpoul du Pinet, Assyrtiko and Savennieres.
Majestic
One of the UK most popular wine retailers has continued to innovate, focussing on lesser-known appellations including Chorey les Beaune and Vire-Clesse. It’s En Primeur range has expanded to include Burgundy and Rhone offers and this year it has increased in-store free tastings. Majestic’s staff are also well-trained and enthusiastic, having taken the WSET Advanced certificate after 6 months, with many going on to take the Diploma course. It has also been instrumental in driving sales of fine wine over £20 per bottle, with an increase of 33% in the last year.
Vinoteca
This popular London merchant-cum-wine bar has done much in the last 12 months, adding wines from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, England, Australia and Brazil. The store offers in-house tastings and large portfolio tastings. It also features 20 wines by the glass for customers to enjoy. Vinoteca has also increased its online presence, adding quarterly newsletters and undergoing an overhaul of the websites.
SA Wines Online
As you can guess from its name, SA Wines Online specialises exclusively in South African wines. Over the last 12 months, their portfolio increased by 103 new wines from 19 different wineries, bringing their total number to over 700. This is, by a substantial margin, the largest range of South African wines available in the UK. The range offered is in constant review in order to ensure that value, quality and, in some cases, exclusivity is made available to the UK consumer.
The Wine Society
Hugely popular - its members number 100,000 - The Wine Society has quite a pedigree. Founded in 1874, it has an impressive array of French wines which make up about 60% of its range which, on the rarer side, counts wines from Uruguay, Lebanon, Corsica, Sardinia and Santorini. Essentially a club, the Society is a co-operative, owned by its members, selling only to them and existing purely for their benefit. Customer service is of great importance, with staff answering calls sitting only a few metres from their warehouses and there is no menu or automated voice response. Furthermore, in 2007 it launched a new website.
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