A new website selling en primeur wines by the bottle has just opened – one of the first of its kind.
shareacase.com is the brainchild of Roland McCormack, the major shareholder, and Nick Miller. Wine writer and educator Charles Metcalfe consults.
The USP of the site, Metcalfe said, ‘is that you can mix your case. To my knowledge, you can’t do that anywhere else.’
Visitors must buy a minimum of 12 bottles. The directors are aiming the site at wine lovers who may not be able to afford a case of first growths, but could run to a couple of bottles.
‘You can then make up the case with cheaper bottles. It’s aimed at those who might be able to afford £800 but not the £2,500 a case of Margaux would cost.’
shareacase.com has around 30 lines, all Bordeaux 2007. A bottle of one of the First Growths costs £250. Further down the scale, a Lynch-Bages is £43, Pichon-Lalande £62.
McCormack said that Pauillac and Margaux have proved the most popular appellations.
‘The biggest surprise has been the low level of interest in Sauternes, bearing in mind the quality of the wines. It’s too early to draw any meaningful conclusions as to the most popular pricing points.’
He also said that ‘a number of merchants’ had registered ‘to gauge our offering and performance to determine their response.’
As to allocations, the directors are sanguine. ‘If we take on a decent amount of wines in lesser vintages like 2007 – and perhaps 2008 – then we’ll in a good position for allocations in great vintages,’ Metcalfe said.
Written by Adam Lechmere
