Hello and welcome to the first blog of 2010.  The start of a new decade sees the end of another and looking back the decade has saw major changes in the wine world.  More consumption in countries such as the UK and US could only be a good thing for wine producers, but it wasn’t all good in that we saw the emergence and often dominance of some pretty awful brands in supermarkets (Blossom Hill, Echo Falls, Kumala et al).  This had the effect of stangling good producers who struggle to get their products to market and let the world see what they could do due to the dominance of Supermarkets and their buying power.  But good independents continue to fly the flag for the small and quality concious producer and offer the world a range of tastes that supermarkets could only hope to achieve.

However as times move on, consumers are becoming more educated and therefore are becoming aware just how bad some of these wines really are and the quality producers out there are beginning to see the benefits.  While there will always be a place for the Blossom Hills of the world, (preferably the sink) new more exciting wines will continue to explode onto the market hopefully taking those consumers and showing them a different pathway. A pathway to tastes and flavours!

Just look at the leaps Marlborough has made in the last 10 years and where it could go if properly managed in the next 10 years.  I had a bottle of the Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2009 at Christmas and it was spectacularly good.  Easily the best Marlborough Sauvignon i’ve ever tasted and unfortunately probably the most expensive at £20.99.  But in this case the old adage of you only get what you pay for rang true.  Extremely well balanced, great mouthfeel and while lots of flavour not over the top.  Great with prawns.

Great wines needn’t be expensive either.  I’ve had a beautiful Bonarda from Argentinian producer Dante Robino just arrive (not on the site yet, but coming soon) at only £8.49.  This beauty offers succulent black fruit, good stucture and a lovely round mouthfeel with a peppery twist on the finish. Delicious woth roast meat.

I think this year will see a rise in wine prices unfortunately.  Firstly VAT has just increased.  Secondly the budget will undoubtedly increase the prices as they need to raise money to pay stupid bankers and thirdly with the weakness of Sterling in the world markets, importing wines at the right price will continue to be a struggle.  However we will do all we can in the wine trade to lessen these increases to ensure everyone gets value for money.

Lastly we will be looking to expand the range of wines and tastes we offer this year to include more domaine bottles Burgundies, more interesting Austrians, some new dry Germans and regional Australians with Spain and Portugal playing an important role as wine coming  from the Iberian Penninsular at the moment is getting better and better with quality really fantastic in some cases.

Watch this space for new arrivals and information as they arrive!

Happy New Year and best wishes in 2010