Insight Archives | The Buyer

Analysis and data to help you buy and sell better

By Helen Arnold on February 18, 2019

Italian restaurant Bancone in Covent Garden is Jason Myers latest restaurant

How Italy has beaten France to be No 1 on UK’s wine list for first time

Ask the average sommelier, restaurant or bar group to list the wines they are selling the most of then time and again it is the lighter, fresher, easy drinking approachable red and white wines from Italy that are being increasingly asked for by their customers. So it should really come as no surprise that for the first time ever Italy – officially – has more listings on UK restaurant wine lists than France. At least according to new research released by Sydney-based on-trade specialists, Wine Business Solutions. Helen Arnold caught up with its principal Peter McAtamney to find out why Italy is enjoying such success, which styles of Italian wines are finding more room on wine lists and what it has meant for the wines from France, and other leading countries, that have lost their way in the UK on-trade as a result.

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Posted In: french wine, italian wine, Italy, on-trade, restaurant, slider, sommeliers, wine, Wine Business Solutions, wine lists

By Richard Siddle on February 6, 2019

new york debate tasting

Buyer Debate: Sommeliers discover New York State wines

New York is often cited as one of the most exciting and dynamic markets for wines with producers the world over hoping to get their wines noticed by the city’s legion of hip sommeliers. But it is a lot less known for the wines made in New York State and it has only been recently that New York’s top restaurants have woken up to what they have on their door step and started listing them. Which makes them potentially very interesting to sommeliers and buyers in the UK looking to catch the next wave of interesting wines from the US, some of whom were able to find out for themselves in The Buyer’s latest trade debate.

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Posted In: finger lake wine, new york wine, sommelier, wine, wine event, wine tasting

By Richard Siddle on February 6, 2019

ibwss_london_venue-2000

IBWSS London: Get on top of bulk and private label wines

With so much uncertainty surrounding future wine buying and sourcing there is even more pressure on buyers to pin down their wine supply for the rest of 2019, which is why bulk wine deals and an on-going move over to private label are two of the main driving forces within the UK and global wine industry. All of which will be top of the agenda at the second International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show being held in London in March. Here’s what you can expect…

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Posted In: bulk wine, IBWSS, spirits, wine, wine buyers, wine distributors, wine importers

By Richard Siddle on February 5, 2019

enotria tasting

How Enotria&Coe wants to spot and drive premium spirits trends

As Enotria&Coe unveils its new portfolio for the year ahead at its annual showcase tasting today, we take a closer look at what the company is doing to help drive its already impressive spirits range in the second half of our interview with the business’s two new managing directors for the on-trade, Ants Rixon and Sam Thackeray. They also look at how it is preparing for Brexit and the work being done to keep on top of new wine and spirits trends for the year ahead.

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Posted In: Enotria&Coe, slider, spirits, wine, wine distributor, wine importer

By Richard Siddle on February 4, 2019

australia trees

Australia: transformed by China and premium wines

The Australian wine market may not be quite as hot as the incessant summer the country is currently suffering from, but it is in a far better place than it was five years ago when all the indicators and rates of growth were all heading in the wrong direction. But thanks to a sector changing free trade agreement signed with China and an industry-wide wake-up call that it needed to stop flooding the market with cheap wine and turn up the dial on its premium wines then it goes into another Ashes year in a very different place to where it was even four years ago.

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Posted In: australia, wine, wine australia, wine producers, winemakers

By Gavin Quinney on January 31, 2019

The key here is

The wine and duty facts every buyer needs to know

Sorry to labour the point but tomorrow the UK wine industry will wake up having to deal with yet another duty rise. It might have been a while since the last increase due to the change in when the Budget is held, but the increase could not come at a worse time as buyers, importers and the drinks and hospitality industries gird themselves for whatever Brexit we end up having. Here Bordeaux wine producer Gavin Quinney of Chateau Bauduc has crunched the numbers not only of this duty rise, but at the wider tax implications across Europe to produce this invaluable guide to what this duty hike really means and the vital messages we should be telling our customers about why it makes sense for them to spend a little more to get a much more value for money and quality wine.

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Posted In: Chateau Bauduc, Eu, Gavin Quinney, tax, wine, wine duty

By Helen Arnold on January 29, 2019

IBWSS: wine sourcing changed by private label demand

One of the keynote talks at last year’s first IBWSS London event saw Morrisons’ Clive Donaldson set out quite clearly how the major multiples now think private label and exclusive brands first when they come to deciding what wines to list. They give them the opportunity to be different and offer something new to their customers. It’s why the growth and importance of private label, and the bulk wine that supplies it, will be a key feature of the second IBWSS London event in March, as Helen Arnold explains.

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Posted In: bulk wine, exclusive brands, IBWSS, private label, wine, wine own label

By Richard Siddle on January 24, 2019

Tim Atkin MW shows some of the wines from his Top 100 Ribera del Duero report at the debate and tasting

Buyer debate: Indies put Ribera del Duero through its paces

Even for a wine region that is as relatively small as Spain’s Ribera del Duero it’s important to taste as many wines as possible if you are going to truly understand, experience and enjoy its enormous diversity, says wine writer and critic, Tim Atkin MW. To help do just that, but also debate and share what leading UK buyers think of Ribera del Duero, The Buyer teamed up with the region’s generic body, a panel of top wine merchants and Atkin himself to see what opportunities there are in the burgeoning independent retail and wholesale sector.

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Posted In: independent wine merchants, Ribera del Duero, Spain, spanish wine, tim atkin, wine, wine retailers

By Richard Siddle on January 23, 2019

IBWSS will assess the likely impact of Brexit on bulk wine and wine prices

How any Brexit deal will affect how rest of the world operates

It’s quite understandable that the UK drinks, restaurant and retail sectors are consumed every waking hour by Brexit and what it could mean for how everyone involved in those sectors can do business come March 30, 2019. Imagine what it must be like for those looking in around the world who must be finding it even harder to remain patient with the UK when you have other fish to fry in far more reliable and profitable international markets. But they would be wise to watch closely for whatever eventually happens with Brexit will have a knock-on effect with how they can trade around the world, particularly for those outside the EU, explains Richard Siddle.

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Posted In: Brexit, Eu, spirits, wine, wine buying

By Richard Siddle on January 21, 2019

australia tasting

Australia hosts annual tastings on back of new UK export deal

When Australia’s annual tasting falls towards the back end of January you know it’s time to stop hankering back to the festive break and what happened in 2018, but get yourself focused on the challenges and opportunities for the year ahead. For we all have to take Australia seriously and give it our fullest attention. It’s still the number one wine country that supermarket shoppers turn to in their droves. It’s position in the premium on-trade is less advanced, but it’ll be those wines that will be on show this week looking to demonstrate what Australia can do at all price levels and step points in quality.

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Posted In: australia, sommeliers, wine, wine australia, wine buying, wine tasting

By Richard Siddle on January 18, 2019

mclaren-winemakers

How McLaren Vale is helping to set the benchmark for Australia

It’s one thing being one of Australia’s oldest wine producing regions, with vines first planted there in the 1830’s, what makes the McLaren Vale such an important and increasingly influential winemaking area are the styles of wine it is able to make thanks to the combination of millions of years old soils and terroir, and the cooling, refreshing and maritime influence of the sea. It’s an area where Grenache is now making a claim for being the region’s most distinctive wine variety as well as being a test bed for alternative Mediterranean grapes from the likes of Italy and Greece, as Richard Siddle discovered on his recent Australian tour.

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Posted In: australia, Australian wine, grenache, McLaren Vale, wine, wine producers, winemakers

By Richard Siddle on January 17, 2019

How Wine Paris offers buyers a new one stop shop

With already arguably too many wine events, conferences and exhibitions taking place in the world, hats off to the organisers of next month’s Wine Paris that in itself might be a new name, but is actually bringing two already established and respected trade fairs into one – Vinisud, that celebrates Mediterranean wine, and VinoVision, the international cool climate wines exhibition. Here we take a closer look at just what is in store at Wine Paris which is taking place between February 11-13.

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Posted In: french wine, paris, wine, wine buyers, wine events, wine exhibition, wine paris, wine producers, winemakers

By Richard Siddle on January 15, 2019

bibendum-training-amanda-4

How training is an intrinsic part of Bibendum’s DNA

Let’s face it we all have a cupboard, or a drawer in our office, that is full of old training manuals from some management course we have been on in our time. But how often have you ever opened it since coming back from that course? It’s a challenge that faces the training team at Bibendum PLB every week, but as they explain designing and delivering an effective training programme requires as much thought and planning as might go into creating a wine list and then selling it to your customers.

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Posted In: bibendum, bibendum plb, restaurants, sommeliers, training, wine, wine eduction, wine training

By Richard Siddle on January 14, 2019

new-zealand-otago

How New Zealand is looking to 2019 to help cement its future

After a week where the wine trade’s focus has been just over the other side of the Channel in Burgundy, this week it’s time to turn our attentions a little further afield. To New Zealand and the first of the major New World generic tastings of the year. To help mark your card for what you can expect and what sort of year New Zealand had in 2018, here’s Chris Stroud, New Zealand Winegrowers’ marketing manager for Europe, to take you though next week’s tasting at a time when the county is taking a long hard look at how it is preparing itself for the future.

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Posted In: new zealand, new zealand winegrowers, sauvignon blanc, wine, wine buyers, wine tasting

By Richard Siddle on January 8, 2019

If Canberra is not on your Aussie wine map – then it should be…

Now if you were given the choice of only being able to visit one winemaking region in Australia how many of you would opt for Canberra? It’s hard enough to get people to go and see what is after all the capital city of the country, never mind its wine producers. But those that do will be in for a very welcome surprise. Not only is Canberra producing some of the country’s most exciting wines, but winemakers are queuing up to go and make wine there. Richard Siddle reports back on his recent visit there.

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Posted In: australia, canberra, wine, wine australia, wine producers, winemakers, winemaking

By Richard Siddle on January 5, 2019

ibwss-london-general

IBWSS looks to help buyers “take back control” of supply chain

We have all probably heard enough of our politicians talking about “taking back control” of our decision making power and factors that determine our economic futures. But when it comes to business, having complete control of all aspects of your supply chain and cost base is vitally important. As we sleepwalk towards Brexit, that need is going to be even more paramount. This March’s International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show hopes to provide the platform for the industry to come together and address both the challenges and opportunities ahead.

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Posted In: bulk wine, IBWSS, private label, retailers, supermarkets, wine, wine buyers, wine importers, wine retailing

By Richard Siddle on December 20, 2018

It was a great opportunity for the Portuguese producers to get direct advice from leading UK trade figures

Douro’s Soul Wines Debate: why the wines are ideal for the UK

“There is a deliciousness to these red wines. I am hugely impressed by them. The quality has blown me away.” Just the kind of review any wine producer would want for their wines, particularly if it comes from such as senior a figure as John Graves, on-trade channel director at Bibendum Wine. But Graves was not the only UK panelist in our debate with the Douro Valley’s Soul Wine producers to be impressed with what they saw and tasted. In part two of our report on the wide ranging debate we assess the opportunity for Douro’s wines in the premium on-trade and what steps producers need to take to make the most of them.

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Posted In: custom, Douro Valley, ine, Portugal, sommeliers, soul wines, wine, wine producers, winemakers

By Richard Siddle on December 18, 2018

Richard Siddle: transformation of Australia’s premium wines

We might as a country import more wine from Australia than anywhere else in the world (24.5m 9 litre cases in 2016 vs the US second at 15m cases and France third at 15m. Source: Vinexpo/IWSR), but the vast majority of that comes in bulk and is sold off a supermarket shelf. To really understand and fully appreciate the style of wines Australia is producing at the premium end, then you have to jump on a plane, do the long hours and find out for yourself as it is a completely different picture. As Richard Siddle found out on a recent visit in the first of a series of reports that will explore what is happening in different regions. First of all, though, he gives this overview of what is happening Down Under.

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Posted In: australia, Australian wine, wine, wine australia, wine producers, winemakers

By Richard Siddle on December 12, 2018

Wines of Hungary to bring Feb Furmint celebrations to UK

For the past 10 years February has been the month when winemakers and local communities in Hungary come together to celebrate Furmint, one of its most famous indigenous white grape varieties. Next year Wines of Hungary wants to bring a flavour of those celebrations to the UK with its very own Furmint February promotion, including on January 30 and the day when it claims a record number of Furmint wines and producers (over 20 producers and 60 wines) will come together at London’s 67 Pall Mall to show UK buyers and sommeliers what these wines can potentially do for their wine lists.

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Posted In: Furmint, Hungary, wine, wine event, wines of hungary

By Richard Siddle on December 11, 2018

The Douro Valley debate was a chance for key UK buyers and wine consultants to assess their opportunities for the UK market

Buyer Debate: UK business advice for Douro’s Soul Wines

With wine on sale from virtually any country that makes it, the UK has to be one of the biggest and most democratic markets for wine anywhere in the world. If your wine is good enough and affordable enough there are a whole host of channels and sectors to sell your wine into. But where do you start? To help the Soul Wines group of Douro wine producers that are looking to find distributors and importers in the UK, The Buyer brought together a panel of trade experts, influencers, distributors and buyers to give their advice on how best to crack the UK market.

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Posted In: Portugal, retailers, wine, wine buyers, wine distributors, wine exports, wine importers, winemakers

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