This week's rant ...
25/02/08 - Mike Stewart aka BIG MIKE
"Soon there will be a great upheaval in the licensed trade when/if the Scottish Government get their chance to castigate all of us for being a bunch of binge drinking fools! New legislation proposed by the Government is at heart, sound, but muddled when you look at the whole pictureI am all for the opportunity to bring a positive outlook to the alcohol industry by making the retail of alcohol more transparent as well as making us more accountable for our drinking behaviour. Multi-deals should go, though price cuts will remain. Price cuts need to be transparent and not administered so they replace the BOGOF or the 3 for 2 mentality. Every time I enter a supermarket, there is always some kind of wine sitting on a pallet with a deep price cut or a BOGOF to tempt the customer as soon as they walk through the door. I can assure you a bottle of Pouilly Fume priced at £11.99, but then sold on a BOGOF at £6 will not be the deal you thought you were getting. Sometimes I purchase such deals to see what value for money is being offered; I do not think I have ever discovered a bargain by doing this, but maybe a wine that at £11.99 should have been c.£7 in the first place. The customer is being misled. Wine is a low margin product-you cannot sell at BOGOF prices without provisionally putting a premium on the initial price. This leads me to the independent wine trader who looks upon wine as a quality product to be serviced properly. They don't look to the supplier and ask what is the best price this month for an Australian Semillon Chardonnay which the supermarkets can promote-usually it is the price that matters for the supermarkets and not the quality of the product that they are offering. The Independent Trader will build up their range by tasting every wine that they list and by doing so can offer a great service to their customer by informing them what the wine is like/what food it will go with best and once you get to know your wine retailer, they will let you know of any wines that you may also like as they usually get to know your palate in a short space of time. Our attitude to alcohol is too familiar. Binge drinking certainly is a problem in the we have failed in our ability to educate the poulation regarding the safe limits within alcohol. Supermarkets have to bare the brunt of this problem-they need to retail alcohol in a designeted area preferably towards the back of the store-I almost think a seperate counter to purchase alcohol within supermarkets would be a good idea. There should be no alcohol diplayed when you walk into the store and no alcohol displayed on aisle ends. The next generation to enjoy alcohol need to enjoy it responsibly-they need to respect it. Education is key; we should be teaching alcohol awareness in schools as well as giving a more balanced view to the customer through the retailer In all this new legislation, the cost for the independent trade will be quite significant. New licenses have to be attained which cost money. They have to give the Independent Wine Retailer some leeway to be able to offer their products through responsible merchandising and responsible pricing. A Dickensian attitude to the trade will end up driving alcohol retail into a deep and murky world-a place we do not wwish to go. The Government has to work closely with the supermarkets to make sure they sell alcohol responsibly. Beers, spirits and wine need to be sold responsibly with a certain amount of awareness to the customer-government legislation should work in tandem with the licence trade so our understanding of alcohol becomes greater. Wine, above all is a wonderfully diverse product as long as it is retailed properly and transparently. I look forward to what the future offers, though one may have to tread carefully for the forseeable future."
11/02/08 - Joshua Butler - Italian specialist importer
" ...but since you ask I suppose I could share a small relatively benign rant. I am fed up with on-trade wine lists in non-French restaurants that seem to feel that they know the British market only buys French wine; if this is truly the case than I am unemployed and someone should tell me to stop wasting my time. Don’t get me wrong a well balanced list definitely needs its share of some of the wonderful French wines that should be spread across different growing regions and styles but lets not get carried away. Your list doesn’t need to have Chardonnay in all its forms and nomenclatures with a spattering of Sauvignon Blanc, other varietals do exist even in France."