Giles Cooke on Wine

Memorable Tales of Food & Wine

2011-12-20T14:14:00.000-03:00

Gastronomica

by Alliance Wine

“Memorable Tales of Food & Wine”

The link between our sense of smell and our memory is incredibly powerful and the ability to re-call events and emotions as a result of smelling something familiar, even if not consciously committed to memory, is common to us all.

Proust’s famous piece on the evocative abilities of tea and madeleines, the haunting, sinister attraction of aroma in the novel “Perfume” or the more populist recollections of Will Smith in “Summertime” (or should that be Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince? " Remember how the smell of a girl brings back nostalgia")) all indicate that whether we know it or not, our sense of smell and memory are inextricably linked.

In gastronomy, those associated with molecular gastronomy in particular have re-awakened a link between taste, aroma and memory in a way that is perhaps more conscious than ever before but is more thoughtful, effective and enjoyable than ever. One only needs to look at the enjoyment to be gleaned from Heston’s Victorian feasts to realise that food (and of course wine) has the power to do far more than satiate.

It is however both an underdeveloped research subject and an under-utilised tool by those in the wine industry – and particularly those whose job it is to enlighten and engage the consumer. When debates rage on about how we should engage the consumer or indeed whether the consumer needs to be engaged at all, are we perhaps missing the oldest trick in the book when it comes to marketing? In telling the stories that bring wine to life, could we be more aware of the power of smell and its ability to touch and to evoke emotions far more powerful than simplistic price led mechanics will ever be?

Gastronomica by Alliance Wine is our 2012 portfolio tasting – but it is more than that. Involving stories from our producers of people and meals long gone (but fondly remembered) as well as the inspirational food moments that our staff have enjoyed, we will relate the stories, smells and tastes that bring the subject of wine to life. Dishes from winemaker’s recollections will be re-invented and paired with memorable wines to produce a tasting that highlights the strengths of Alliance’s portfolio but also the different perspectives that we bring to the industry.

For more information on the tastings to be held in London and Edinburgh, please contact Laura Boyce or Christine Allen. laura.boyce@alliancewine.co.uk

christine.allen@alliancewine.co.uk

For further discussions on food, wine, memory and marketing, please contact Giles Cooke MW giles.cooke@alliancewine.co.uk

A Matter of Taste

2011-11-16T22:54:00.001-03:00

One of the great joys of the wine business is the network of friends and colleagues that one develops - the feedback and perspectives that they can give, on your own business, on their own businesses and on the wider wine market - are just so valuable.

Yesterday was a day spent with wine trade friends both old and new and it was fascinating and comforting to hear that the current challenges of the market are not unique to the UK. Conversations moved from the logistics challenges of the small distributor through to the global economy but perhaps the most interesting discussion revolved around something much more difficult to put your finger on.

A day rarely goes by without debate over the wine industry's lack of ability to engage the consumer consistently in a fashion that drives loyalty and willingness to experiment and premiumise. Whilst some commentators contest that this stems from a lack of real interest from the trade in terms of hearing what the consumer wants, that is not a view that I believe rings true. I'm beginning to think that the difficulty in engaging with wine by those who drink it on a more casual basis, is down to something much more fundamental.

Imagine sitting down for the evening to watch a bit of tv and finding yourself drawn to the almost obligatory food programme on at prime time. However, far from the content of the programme being engaging, interactive and distracting, the content of the programme was made up of "stories" about 10 different breeds of cattle and the different feeds on which they were nurtured. How interested would you be?

Then think about whether, in most people's view, there is much difference in the importance attached to the purchase of wine and the importance attached to the purchase of beef? For many people, both are staple items in the weekly grocery shop and therefore why should we think that anyone would be interested in exploring, or being educated about, the minutiae of wine anymore than we would be interested in the minutiae of cattle rearing?

Whilst I certainly don't pretend to have all the answers, I do believe that we have to find a new way of engaging the consumer and it all comes down to a matter of taste. Without wishing to give too much away, our tastings next year will focus on how we all interact with wine and draw on research about how our senses are hard wired and consequently our ability to relate our experience of different sensations varies greatly dependent on whether we see, hear taste or smell them. Intriguingly, whilst smell (the most important sense for us wine enthusiasts) is one of the most evocative senses, it is also the most difficult to accurately relate to others without simile. In the past, the obscurity of the language used to describe these similes has been criticised but is this missing the point? Perhaps it is time that we need to find more effective ways of not only engaging all of the senses but building on them to create vivid pictures in the eyes of the consumer that can be accurately expressed and result in far more effective emotional connections.

Refreshing Rioja

2011-10-02T16:49:00.000-03:00

With the red harvest well under-way in even the most extreme of Riojan vineyards, the omens for a good quality, lower yielding harvest look promising thanks to a long period of drought and warm, clear harvesting conditions. With all of the recent stats on Spanish wine exports looking very healthy, it would appear to be a good time to be a producer in the region. However, this simplistic judgement ignores an emerging polarisation between those willing to exploit the traditional quality system and those committed to making genuinely special wine on a sustainable level. Rioja's quality grading system - Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva - is, once you have aged the wine for the required time period, entirely self governing. That is to say that the quality of the wine put into this system, and the age and the quality of the oak used, plays no part in the eventual quality grading. Many traditional regions of the world have seen an exodus of quality orientated players from the established quality grading system when faced by regulations that encourage mediocrity but thus far, Rioja is not one of them. However, a growing number of producers are voicing concerns that the system is broken.

Perhaps one of the most high profile critics of a system that, during the 2010 vintage, encouraged large brands to push grape prices as little as 40 euro cents per kilo, is Telmo Rodriguez. Telmo's low key return to the family's Remelluri estate last year has been followed by a period of reflection on where to take the property and its wines and further news will be forthcoming soon. However, it is already clear that the compromises that the system allows are not for Telmo and the sense of frustration that the Rioja system could in anyway be seen as equivalent of the Bordeaux classification is palpable. Eschewing the current vogue for Tempranillo dominated plantings, trellised vines and filling out of wines with bought in fruit, Telmo's focus on bush vine Garnacha, entirely estate grown fruit and sensitive use of oak are sure to redefine the quality and style of this most atmospheric of estates. What will be interesting to see is quite how far Telmo will be prepared to go in terms of relying on the quality of the estate rather than traditional terms such as Reserva and Gran Reserva.

15 minutes down the road but a world away in terms of style and approach, Luis Canas are also redefining and enlivening the wines of Rioja. Well known for producing the tour de force that is Hiru 3 Racimos, as well as the perennially crowd pleasing Reserva de la Familia, the wine that stands out from the crowd at the moment, paradoxically, is the 2004 Gran Reserva. Both in the UK and in Spain, the Gran Reserva category has virtually died. Clearly illustrating the region's commitment to a system that promotes mediocrity, once proud Gran Reserva's became dried out, shadows of the fruit that once was there. Many winery's Gran Reservas were just more evolved versions of their reserva. Juan Luis Canas' commitment to viticulture and grape selection means that every wine they produce has its own individual personality and no one wine is just an older version of its sibling. The result is one of the best ranges in the region and, in the 2004 Gran Reserva, the most convincing argument for the category one could find.

The Canas range, though modern, is rooted in tradition and, to a certain degree, follows the accepted norms for Rioja labelling. However, when it came to creating a winery dedicated to his mother, Canas has stepped a little further from tradition. Amaren wines do include an exceptional Reserva (one that won 4 trophies at the IWC this year) but the rule breaking Angeles de Amaren, a Tempranillo Graciano, has no age classification on it despite spending more time in oak than the minimum for Reserva. Interesting to note that Canas' new venture in Ribera del Duero, Dominio de Cair, will also not use the traditional system and will not have an age classification on the label.

Though these are but two wineries in an enormously diverse region, their reaction to a system that relies on the quality of the past, not the present, is one that is sure to find more followers as the commoditisation of aged Riojas forces growers to accept unsustainable prices. The popularity of Rioja in the UK especially, ensures that the current regime is not likely to change anytime soon but for those in the know, the traditional ageing classifications are not the sole quality cue anymore.

Redefining Value

2011-08-16T13:39:00.001-03:00

The relationship between value and price is at best uncertain when it comes to wine.

The past proliferation of so-called half price offers, bogofs and multibuys obscures objective value to such an extent that recent research suggests that although shoppers may feel an overall “glow” of good value having visited a multiple grocer, few can tell you exactly how much they paid for their wine. Furthermore, recent on-trade research highlighted the shaky relationship between price and value by proving that if the same wine in the same outlet was priced at three different levels, consumers bought more of it at the highest price.

So, what are we to make of the oft repeated notion that value means economy and that economy is good for the consumer? Is this the same consumer that does not know what true value is? The same consumer that would prefer to pay more rather than less for the same wine in a restaurant? The same consumer whose notion of value in wine has been so manipulated and mangled by commoditisation that it is no wonder that so many people feel disenchanted and confused by the wine trade?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Even during the depths of the recession, businesses that have been built upon foundations of trust, quality and real value have prospered. Is it now time for a more general reassessment of what value means when it comes to wine? Does the wine industry need to re-set its values?

I believe that it does. Let’s start by breaking the misguided ideology that value means economy. As anyone in the trade knows, the heavy burden of taxation means that wine is very rarely good value below £5 and there is a better correlation between price and quality between £7 and £15 than at any other price points. Could we therefore not focus our “value” propositions a little more ambitiously?

Then perhaps we could move away from the notion that cheap is good for the consumer. Most consumers would be horrified to know that much wine being sold as “value” is being bought at a price that is below a sustainable level for the grower. Whilst minimum pricing legislation now seems unavoidable for some parts of the country, perhaps the wider issue of the long term viability of many wine growing regions could be helped within the UK market by a charter to not buy below agreed sustainable prices and work hard to market the true value of fairness.

A tough challenge to meet perhaps but unless some redefining of what determines true value takes place no end of innovations and customer targeting is going to help us.

Giles Cooke on Wine: The No Thank You Economy

2011-06-11T10:20:00.000-03:00

Giles Cooke on Wine: The No Thank You Economy

The No Thank You Economy

2011-06-11T09:35:00.002-03:00

Gary Vaynerchuck's entertaining and thought provoking book entitled the Thank You Economy is certainly of the current zeitgeist. The book is at one end of the social media spectrum - the end that chooses not to question the return on investment of Social Media, taking it for granted in the same way that few would question the return on investment of your mum. More analytical commentators on social media such as Dan Zarella choose to measure the performance of all key indicators in a bid to demonstrate the impact of social media in a way hitherto neglected.

However, reading Vaynerchuck's work, compelling as it is, I wondered whether caring for our clients is really at the heart of some businesses' (or indeed industries')problems.

Alliance Wine is a business that has cared for its clients from day one and whilst the company has grown significantly, this has never changed. Directors still drop the odd case off for a desperate restaurateur on a Friday evening and no customer dissatisfaction goes unanswered or neglected. And we are not alone - whilst the wine industry is not guilty of being overly innovative, it does generally care for the people within it and for its consumers. A lack of caring just isn't the issue...

Indeed, somewhere else in Vaynerchuck's book lies the clue to some of the UK industry's current problems - think about the title. More often than not, when we think about "thank you" we think about the word "yes" and herein lies the rub.

We are an industry that say "yes thank you" far too often and it is to our detriment. Due to a fragmented, highly competitive supply base that sells to a consolidated, all powerful retail culture, the wine industry has become scared of saying no to deals that simply do not stack up.

At London Wine Trade Fair this year, a conversation with a leading Australian winemaker was enlightening. UK buyers have got used to being all powerful on their trips to an oversupplied, ailing Australian wine market and almost without exception, the answer has been yes to any vaguely reasonable offer to buy large quantities of wine at below cost prices. However, this particular winemaker, having been approached by a buyer for one of the big UK retailers had the audacity to not only refuse a visit but to say that they were not interested in supplying. The bemused buyer, when on Australian soil, called again but was told the same thing - not interested, no thank you.

This is a vital step - the producer may well have had some wine to sell but not at any cost and it is only by more people doing this that we will change both the way that the buyers approach the product but also how the consumers are catered for.

The Australian winemaker was not the only one talking about "No Thank You" at the London fair - there was a general feeling that something has to change, we need to be in a strong enough position to turn away business that will ultimately damage the industry.

Elsewhere in the UK trade, the position is similar, though not on quite the same scale. Within the on-trade in the UK, the legal system is regularly abused by unscrupulous operators who open and close limited companies at the drop of a hat - killing off small suppliers indiscriminantly. Numerous are the cases where an operator, already in a voluntary arrangement, will be offered further credit by suppliers desperate to take advantage of the situation. We need to learn to say "No Thank You"

In Paul Henry's recent blog on the New Currency, he talks about how, in the new economy, instinct will be more important than learning but perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween. Most of us know when we do a bad deal, one that is for the short term, one that may damage our future. So, we should learn from our mistakes and use that instinct to be more discerning and when faced with the lure of the short term over the long term, politely say "No Thank You"

Natural Disruption

2011-06-02T11:17:00.001-03:00

This year’s London Wine Trade Fair was intriguing in that the wine trade zeitgeist is currently defined by an event that happened prior to the official fair and by an event occurring at the heart of the fair but with the intention of “disrupting” the traditional model of the wine trade – whatever that may be.

Both events, the Natural Wine Fair and the “Disrupt” pan European wine blended on Thierry’s stand rightly attracted a good deal of attention but what is it that so intrigued commentators and consumers alike?

It is easy to like the ideals behind the Natural wine movement ( yes, I know there is no organised movement!) and the individuals concerned present a highly eclectic, bohemian front but, as it stands, this is not an inclusive development aimed fairly and squarely at the consumer. This is a movement, or collection, of producers whose ideals are to be admired but whose wines are unlikely to be mainstream any time soon. Proponents argue that the mass market wines that the majority of consumers buy are full of chemicals, yeasts and additives that are hidden from the consumer. I think that most of us would argue otherwise but we are wise enough to listen to those calling for lower sulphur levels, more moderate alcohols and less intervention – in this respect the Natural Wine movement could be said to act in a manner similar as Haute Couture does to high street fashion – influencing, improving and leading new styles.

At the fair itself, and arguably more contentious, the Disrupt crowd- sourced and blended pan European wine, reflects not only the current, innovative model adopted by Naked Wines, but also a more disingenuous agenda adopted by the likes of Wine Options.Org. It goes something like “ the wine trade has been ripping the consumer off for years, shrouding wine in mystery in order to maintain control and not giving the consumer what they want”. Is this the wine trade that you recognise?

Now, whilst the wine trade is far from perfect, it is generally run by people with ethics, who value the product that we sell and whilst profit generation has generally come second to product enjoyment this cannot be characterised as a trade hell bent on making money at any cost to the consumer.

The trade has lacked professionalism, especially when it comes to genuine product innovation and marketing expertise. Far from not wanting to hear what the consumer wants, the wine trade has been hampered by a lack of the skills needed to both listen to the consumer effectively and to react to the findings. In light of this, perhaps it is not surprising that certain elements of the trade and of the consuming market have become frustrated.

So how might we improve?

One of the outcomes of the interest in Natural Wine has been to make all of us more aware of how we might influence the production of the products we sell in a positive way. However, calling Natural wine natural suggests that all other wines are not natural and this does us all a great dis-service. If we are going to convince the consumer that the variety and diversity of wine that they face is both enjoyable and worth paying a premium for, we will not do by creating division and chasms.
Wine is essentially a natural product – no one thinks that the freshly prepared fruit salad sold in various supermarkets is unnatural and yet it most likely has very much higher levels of SO2 than any wine would be allowed – and we should strive to convince the customer that individuality and diversity are an integral part of a natural category.

However, few other industries who market natural products do so with one universal packaging option. Take bread for instance – the packaging or lack of it immediately gives the consumer the clues needed to make a decision. If consistency, convenience of use and blandness of flavour are required, the plastic wrapped, pre sliced industrial loaf is ideal. However, the loose, artisan stone baked loaf with its irregular crust and crumb automatically connects with the consumer at a different emotional level. Does wine do that?

By packaging all wine in 75cl glass bottles we level the playing field to such an extent that however creative the label (and however much lipstick we apply to a pig) the consumer struggles to see credible reasons to pay more for their wine or to understand the inconsistencies and diversity of the premium category.

Perhaps we have lessons to learn from other markets. Scandinavia is dominated by bag in box, some markets use tetra-pak or plastic but whatever the package, distinguishing the everyday from the genuinely special in amore tangible form than label or price is a very real way in which the wine trade could innovate and provide an effective ladder of consumer experience that does not exist at present.

Whatever happens, we have to be grateful for those currently challenging the status quo and encouraging us all to think in ways that will ensure that there is a still a wine trade to enjoy in 10 years time.

And your first born son......

2011-02-11T14:54:00.002-03:00

It's February 12th and veraison still looks some way off in many vineyards - it's been a cool, wet season with all too sporadic heat spikes. Disease pressure has been very high and as the rain lashed down across much of South Australia yesterday, many growers must have been wondering what else could befall them this season.

Ever since I've been travelling to Australia, drought has been a very real issue - I remember Sam Plunkett telling me over 10 years ago that lack of water for grass meant the local cows were being fed on the pulp from the orange juice factory. I was also here a couple of years ago when the mercury hit 48 degrees in Adelaide and people perished in the fires that enveloped much of Victoria.

It is therefore astonishing that the situation has been reversed with, at times, frightening speed. Weather patterns right across Australia (Perth is currently experiencing devastating fires)have been at odds with the norm and after the recent floods and cyclones in Queensland one does wonder what next?

Yesterday, I was in the Barossa at Thorn Clarke and Sam Clarke, through the mist of pouring rain, looked mournfully at his lost lawn as a plague of locusts munched on the green shoots - let's hope there is nothing else quite so biblical on the way!

Revenir - Nepenthe Winery Re-Born

2011-02-11T14:25:00.002-03:00

For Peter Leske, the old Nepenthe winery feels like home.Having been winemaker from the start and watching its meteoric rise, seeing the winery mothballed by its previous owner, Australian Vintage, must have been like having an itch that he couldn't quite scratch. Well, Peter has now well and truly scratched that itch - having signed (along with business partner Mark Kozned) for the winery last week.

Aside from working for Alliance Wine Australia, Peter has an active client base of wineries that rely on his expertise to make their wines. This facility will bring them together under one roof and make Peter's life a little easier - that's the plan anyway....

We're delighted for Peter, not to mention for Alliance Wine Australia who will obviously use this facility for small batch processing and greeting clients when in Australia. The winery has been re-named Revenir, to return, and we wish Peter a very happy return to his home in the "hills"

Australia at the Crossroad

2011-02-09T11:41:00.004-03:00

Yesterday it was the first in our regional Portfolio tastings there was much discussion at the London venue about the impact of the Australian dollar on sales in 2011. Sat at Hong Kong airport for the last few hours, waiting for my connection to Adelaide - one can't help but reflect upon the dire situation that many Australian exporters to the UK now find themselves in.

Let's face it, we've all been telling our producers to hold pricing for the last 3 years as currency went the wrong way and our economy lurched from crisis to crisis. I think we all hoped that currency would reverse at some point but what is now clear is that the good old days of exchange rates north of 2 are gone - perhaps forever. This leaves both exporters and importers dangerously exposed. Some wineries, having not increased pricing in the face of export pressure, will now be under invested as a result of falling margins. Lack of investment in crucial marketing and sales initiatives has resulted in declining brand strength - strength badly needed at a time when retail prices have to go up. For many producers, the combination of having to increase prices plus the exchange rate will see their sales volumes decline, even if margins temporariliy rally.Many importers now face portfolios denuded of anything that can be sold sub £10 on the shelf.... the costs of owning vineyards, running wineries and staff just do not add up and so one has to come to the conclusion that for Australian wine in the UK, the future is very lean business models or exceptional quality and individuality.

Fortunately, we have long seen the writing on the wall and our increasingly polarised sourcing and production strategies now seem more legitimate than ever. Nobody's denying that even for the exceptional, the currency issue is very significant but for those really exceptional, inspiring producers the compelling nature of their story is sure to endure in the face of extreme pressure. At the other end of the market, it is difficult to see how anybody that is not a producer or has direct ties to production, will be able to compete adequately in the UK market. The Australian businesses that survive in the future will see an increasingly integrated production and distribution model as the norm though the cosmetics of these arrangements will look very different to the traditional producer opens UK export office model of old.

The new model, trialled and innovated by businesses such as Alliance is lean, flexible, expert and able to add value at every turn. As the market becomes increasingly open due to the consolidations and sell-offs in the majors, further opportunities will arise and this model will become the establishment.

So what does this mean for the large numbers of mid priced, honest wine produced throughout Australia? Well, should they wish to export to the UK (and this should no longer be a default position)they need to find creative, innovative distributors willing to work closely on co-branding and lean business models. Only by doing this will we maintain Australia in the forefront of the consumer's mind and be in a position to re-build brand equity and long term sustainability.

Wine Australia's A+ policy goes a long way to putting the emphasis on quality, individuality and aspiration ( and though temporariliy challenging the withdrawal of funding by the majors might be just what the initiative needs) but it cannot single-handedly reverse the impact we will all feel this year as a result of the currency shift.

For all that we will need to get leaner, better, more creative and inspiring for the long term sustainability of the category, one cannot help but feel for those producers that have stood side by side with the UK trade for the last two decades and surely we all owe it to ourselves to now stand up and sell those wines more effectively and with more passion than ever before. If we all do this then perhaps we'll enter 2012 with Australia having overcome what is surely its most difficult hurdle yet.

Is Perfect Desirable?

2011-01-13T04:22:00.002-03:00

We've all heard the stories, whipped up by anti-European media, about imminent legislation to ensure that fruit and veg is perfect in size, shape and colour. We've also heard, and experienced, lack of flavour, homogeneity of size and shape and most probably asked ourselves is this what we really want...

Paul Henry, in his excellent blog, Wine Hero, recommended a couple of wines yesterday specifically because they were a little flawed. One of the wines recommended, Domaine A Cabernet, is a wine with which I am very familiar, and it is a wine that tells a story of a battle against climate, established wine trade wisdom and consumer perception. It is the story of the ambition, passion and dedication of one man, Peter Althaus and the fact that it is exceptional but not perfect, makes it all the more intriguing.

Given that we are now in an age of apparent austerity, it is fitting that on those occasions when we want to spend a little more, we should be looking for wines that really deliver - and by deliver I don't mean deliver plush fruit, seemless tannins, 100 points from someone we do not know and an "international" appeal that is a euphemism for uniform, soul-less and uninspiring. What I mean is wines that are undoubtedly excellent, wines that speak of where they came from, who made them and what inspired them. They may well be wines that are not perfect, but it is those flaws of character and minor imperfections that turn the beautiful into the captivating.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-08T11:45:00.002-03:00

After one of the most challenging December trading periods ever, 2011 is upon us and, as I write from Edinburgh, the snow is back.

The freaky weather that much of the UK struggled with over December certainly put huge strains on the supply chain and on some days made deliveries all but impossible. However, bucking the industry trends, December turned out to be our biggest month ever and what looked like a potentially poor Christmas turned into a surprisingly good one. A huge thanks to all of our customers who had to be a little more patient than normal and also to the distribution team who worked ceaselessly to make sure the wine got on the road and into client's premises.

2011 will kick off in similarly frenzied activity - NZ in London on 11th Jan, Australia on the 19th and then our regional roadshows throughout February - check our website, www.alliancewine.co.uk for details of the dates.

We hope to see you there to sample some cracking new wines.....

Cheers

Giles

Bottom Up or Top Down?

2010-09-22T05:54:00.002-03:00

I note with some interest and,it has to be said, some bias that another major wine distributor has announced a new scheme to train on-trade staff. Although we understand the worth of quality training for the on-trade, it seems to me that many organisations get it all wrong.

We've all heard the stories about school pupils being given power to decide on which teacher is recruited, what lessons they want to learn and when they want to learn them - and we've all cringed and tutted about falling standards, and over burdening pupil power. When we learn, we want to do so in a supportive environment where the teachers and culture of the organisation are knowledgeable and inspirational. So why do we continue to concentrate our efforts on on-trade staff when what we should be trying to influence are the business leaders and the cultures they encourage?

We've recently been doing staff training tastings for a major new client and it was an absolute joy to present to large groups of enthusiastic, professional people who craved more knowledge not just for their own sake but also for the benefit of the business that they worked for. However, this is not the norm in the industry and we've all been there at 10am, conducting a wine tasting to staff who either did not want to be there or who were barely awake having been working in the same outlet til 3 the same morning - and who could blame them?!

To my mind, what we need to concentrate on is a holistic approach to wine education in the on-trade, covering all tiers of staff but where the correct culture doesn't already exist, this has to begin at the top.

That's why our Masterclasses are so important in raising the bar for wine education in Scotland. Though they are run by not one but 2 Master of Wine, these are not pompous, irrelevant lectures of the finer points of Burgundy but informative, interactive, commercial sessions that aim to give business leaders the low down on the wine trade in order to give them the confidence to instil an open, engaging wine culture in their businesses. Such a culture is far more likely to successfully nurture education, enthusiasm and total staff engagement with the end result being lower staff turnover and higher profits - and who could argue with that?

So, join Alliance is adopting a holistic approach to wine education and say Bottom's Up to the Top Down approach......

A Big Win

2010-09-12T17:31:00.003-03:00

Last Tuesday, at the Hilton Park Lane, Alliance Wine could be said to have finally come of age. In front of the world's wine elite, we won not just one, but two major awards - Best UK Agent and Champion Great Value White Wine!

Both are huge achievements given the level of competition and so we are all very proud of being recognised by our peers as leading the wine industry.

Not a company for resting on our laurels, we'll be re-emphasising our commitment to the on-trade with our continuing series of masterclasses that promise to give on-trade professionals the inside track on the wine business. Our last session, with Norrel Robertson MW was a huge success...

So, thank you all for helping us to win these awards and watch this space for many new developments that promise to make the next 12 months as challenging and exciting as the last.

Cheers

Giles

Wine is not just a beverage......it has a soul......

2010-01-10T08:53:00.002-03:00

And so said Peter Althaus of Domaine A during our visit today.

We're over in Australia once again and having already been to Adelaide and Melbourne, today as the turn of Hobart and a visit to see Peter and Maria at the iconic Domaine A winery in the Coal River Valley, close to Hobart.

I have been visiting and distributing the wines of Domaine A since 2004/05 and have previously written about how my initial scepticism as transformed into a love and appreciation of the Domaine A wines - something I'm glad to say that has also been the case for countless other journos and wine trade from the UK since then.

Today it was the turn of our Australian buyer, Beth Willard to experience Domaine A for the first time and I'm sure the visit will have left an indelible impression.

Beth remarked that sometimes there is a feel and atmosphere that surrounds a vineyard that is bound for greatness...Domaine A has that feel. The closely planted, low yielding vineyard on an undulating, sheltered site in the sunny Coal River valley is quite unique in Australian terms and the wines produced are remarkable both for the impression that these are wines of one great site but also that they reflect the individuality, determination and inspiration of one person - Peter Althaus.

Unlike those who believe that the greatest impression that a winemaker can leave on a wine is to manipulate during winemaking, Peter's greatest contribution was to identify the potential of the site in the first place and then, in the face of huge scepticism, to pursue his objectives in an uncompromising fashion. Thankfully he did and still does pursue perfection and the Australian wine industry is all the better for it.....

So, what stood out today? Well....Peter arrived in Tasmania for the first time in 1988 and bought the vineyard in 1989, producing the first wine in 1990. Therefore, the production of a bottle of Cabernet made in 1982 by the previous owner of the then tiny vineyard was a real treat.

Gently retreating into that satisfying but difficult to identify state of mature, spicy, savoury elegance, this was a real piece of history. Though the 1980s don't seem that long ago, this was a 28 year old wine still showing life and finesse and it gave a fleeting insight into what must have inspired Peter and his wife Ruth all those years ago.

Amongst the others that impressed from more recent times were the 2007 Lady A Fume Blanc which had a beautiful waxy lemon curd palate with touches of apricot all backed up with minerally acidity ; A beautiful 2004 Domaine A Cabernet that was all black olive, glossy texture and fine grained tannin; the outstanding and very rare Domaine Merlot 2004 that surely has to be the greatest expression of this variety in Australia (or the new world for that matter).

Drinking and sharing food with Peter is always entertaining and fascinating in equal measure. His assertion that wine is not just a beverage but has soul rings true with our philosophy of putting wines in context and enjoying a little complexity......

Como usted dice la recesion en espanol?

2009-11-10T18:13:00.007-03:00

Thanks to Easyet, our most recent visit to Spain began with delays and an eventual check in to a Madrid hotel at 1am. Undeterred by lack of sleep, we ventured forth into the unseasonal Spanish warmth, set for a drive down to Manzanares in the heart of the La Mancha region.

Forget the old image of tired, oxidised, over oaked reds and wishy washy neutral whites, our partners in La Mancha run a great operation with access to a wide range of international varietals along with the indigenous classics. Sales from this region have exploded for us this year as consumers search for great value and style.....

Tastings done and lunch devoured we set off for a long drive north to Calatayud where we rested up for the night. The next day we set off for Rioja and Navarra with some serious objectives in mind. First stop was at the charming Finca Manzanos where their ambitious winery and hotel project is just about reaching its conclusion. It's always surprising to see just how ambitious this project is but I look forward to (maybe) staying there next time.

In Navarra, Finca Lasierpe showed a range of flawless, joven wines from the new 2009 vintage and one couldn't help but think that Garnacha nouveau could be the next big thing. Big, juicy, soft and oh so drinkable.....Rosana the winemaker is doing a great job here....

2009 looks like being an excellent year in Rioja and where better to show off the best of the region than at our two stars of the region, Remelluri and Luis Canas. Remelluri is always spell binding - one of the most atmospheric wineries anywhere with superb, marginal vineyards and one of the most exciting whites in the region. Inspired by the mischeivous Jaime Rodriguez, who joined us for lunch, Remelluri was the first single estate Rioja producer and remains one of the most special.

Luis Canas have emerged as one of Spain's most important producers in the last 10 years and this is in the main due to the work of Juan Luis, the son of Luis Canas. With his modest yet deeply passionate approach, Juan Luis has tirelessly worked to improve quality through investments in vineyards and winery practices - not by building huge egotistical buildings. It was nice to see this time that now he has had time to invest a little in the front end and we were warmly welcomed into the new accommodation he has for guests and friends of the winery - this is going to be a very popular place to visit in 2010 as the standard of accommodation is superb - and of course there is no shortage of wine on site!

Over an emotional tasting, Juan Luis explianed why he had decided to launch a new and entirely separate range of wines under the name Amaren. In honour of his mother, Angeles, this new range consists of a superb, textural white and three awesome reds that are going to wow the UK - we look forward to getting them in stock early in 2010.....

Rioja is always a joy to visit - my first love when it comes to wine regions and post harvest, the reds, deep yellows and purples of the spent vines is a deeply reassuring sight.....

And all of this with no mention of the recession - well,quite a lot of mention of the recession actually as Spain appears to be suffering equally as bad as us. We're all in it together I guess so nothing for it but to keep drinking the Rioja.....

Hot, Hot, Hot!

2009-02-03T01:18:00.004-03:00

A week may be a long time in politics but two weeks sure is a long time in the wine industry. The past two weeks have seen an fairly ordinary, coolish season turn into a tumultuous, steamy, damaging fortnight of extreme temperatures and frightening forest fires.

Vineyard owners have watched their grapes slowly cook over the past week and have been left with no choice but to start harvesting in a bid to save some of the crops. Some people have talked of 80% losses and though this seems extreme, yields are inevitably going to be lower than was previously expected. Whilst this may be good for reducing the current surpluses, it is likely to hit those already affected by low grape prices even further. Who said that wine was glamorous?!

The hot weather seems to have followed me on my trip, culminating in 48 degrees in Adelaide with a night time temperature that didn't dip below 34. Adelaide is now in the 9th day of the heatwave and it looks to be last year's record for long term heat

Highlight of the last week (of which much was spent in offices tasting bulk wines) was the trip to Tasmania to visit Domaine A and Clover Hill. Domaine A is always a fascinating visit - quite different from almost anything else in Tasmania or Australia. Peter Althaus' single minded dedication to making world class Cabernet is not only utterly mad, but totally inspiring. Having battled media scepticism and Tasmanian wariness, Domaine A is now firmly on the map as one of the country's leading cool climate wineries.

Tasting through the entire range is an important reminder that current "bagging" of the industry overseas is based on ignorance. There are fantastic winemakers in Australia, many of whom are taking "the route less travelled" and as a result making delicious, class, characterful wine.

Driving north, towards the Pipers River region of Tasmania ( through towns as madly monikered as Bagdad!)the heat built up so that by the time I reached the beautiful Clover Hill vineyard the mercury was rising towards 35+.

Sat out on the terrace of the petite winery, we tasted through an historic line-up of every vintage produced since the inaugural 1991. The complexity of style and crisp acids do not change throughout, though more recent changes to wood ageing of reserve wines has added more richness in latter vintages. Two wines stood out....

The 1998 Clover Hill Brut was on top form. Delicious, nutty, broad and honeyed with crisp acids and a long finish, this was the pick of the regular bottling. The 2001 Blanc de Blancs, not commercially released, was superemely delicious with tangy, honeyed citrus fruit, complex floral, mineral character and great length. Would be the perfect aperitif for my forthcoming wedding!

World's Apart

2009-01-28T10:28:00.002-03:00

2009 and the world is a very different place. The economic turbulence currently affecting the UK and much of the world is being felt in all corners of the global wine world so where better to travel to in January than Australia!

I'm currently in Adelaide where the temperature rose to 46 degrees today and was the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city. Throughout Australia the heat is rising for vine growers and winemakers as they realise that the combination of a rapidly declining economic outlooks and a huge oversupply of wine is crippling the industry.

Here in South Australia the effects are far reaching as wineries try to clear stocks prior to harvest. Though this provides opportunities for enterprising wine merchants ( such as myself who is in Australia at exactly the time many are in the UK for the Aussie tastings), the long term effects of the current crisis are deeply worrying. Already there is much talk of huge amounts of fruit not being picked due to over supply and low prices. This may well lead to many warm climate irrigated vineyards being left to die - this is a sad sight but the shortage of economic warm climate fruit that may result in the future could provide wild price spikes in the coming vintages.

Cape Wine 2008

2008-09-24T18:29:00.002-03:00

Though this view of the mountains of Stellenbosch might suggest that a visit to Cape Wine 2008 is idyllic, the reality is obviously very different! Believe me, days spent tasting wine and eating vast quantities of meat takes it toll...eventually.

This is my 4th visit to Cape Wine and this year promised a larger show with a more confident, mature industry ready to show that it can meet the very significant challenges that it faces on the export market. After a couple of days at the show and a further couple out with suppliers, it seems that, as ever, the picture in South Africa is mixed and there remains some work to do.

Our first day was spent with Bruwer Raats in the Polka Drei subregion of Stellenbosch. That many consumers are yet to work out where Stellenbosch is no obstacle to the many who are supportng further fragmentation into sub regions but though this move may be premature, there is no doubt that people like Bruwer Raats are the future of the industry.

Rather than taking a "scatter gun" approach to wine making, Bruwer takes a more focussed path and has become renowned for making just Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc from grapes grown on soil specific sites. His search for the sites that contain his ideal soil profile is exhausting and is paying dividends with precise, minerally, textured Chenin and bright, crunchy, fresh Cabernet Franc with terrific balance and drinkability.

The time spent at the show has been enlightening though there does not appear to have been the great leaps forward that perhaps have been seen in previous years. There is a continuing move to new, unique terroirs and overall handling of tannin and oak appears to hav improved. However, the continuing inability or seeming scientific research into what causes the dusty, rubbery character still to be found in many reds, is a a huge frustration and will keep the industry back from making the advances that many of its more ambitious winemakers deserve.

A couple more days to go on this trip and further visits to Stellenbosch await so perhaps the weather will improve - the winter here has been unusually long and harsh with snow on Table Mountain fairly recently - something that is almost unheard of.

More to follow.....

Winning Cruises

2008-07-02T05:27:00.003-03:00

After a brief (!) break from blogging for the purposes of getting out there and selling some wine, it is time to get up to date....

Firstly, Alliance has had an amazing time at the awards over the last few weeks. At the International Wine Challenge, we've got no less than 6 trophies! Good ol' Prof from Majella has come up trumps again and took an incredible 4 trophies for his Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - including best Aussie red for the 2nd year. Always nice to see the good guys winning through....

Domaene Wachau, our new Austrian producer also got in on the action and took 2 trophies - for best Austrian white wine and best Gruner Veltliner...

As if that wasn't enough, we've just heard that at the New Wave Spanish Wine Awards, we've also got 2 trophies. Well done to Cilar de Silos and Luis Canas!

Away from the awards winning business, I'm just back from a slightly surreal weekend doing a wine tasting on the 3rd largest cruise ship in the world. DLA Piper, the global legal firm, had it exclusively hired out for the weekend (can't see too many wine companies following them) and we (Robin and I) were the entertainment on the Saturday afternoon. After manfully struggling through Friday's opening party and then the added stress of which sunscreen to wear on the Saturday morning, it came as something of a shock to have to don the suit and do 2 tasting sessions on Saturday afternoon. All went well though and, with a little Zimbabwe-esque vore rigging, the competitive Spain versus France tasting ended in a draw. Well done to Robin for standing up for French pride in the face of my Spanish attack.....

After leaving the ship, I met up with the irrepresible Reg Ward...our man in Spain. After a somewhat fraught car hiring experience, we left Barcelona and headed in the direction of Rioja. Gorgeous weather and scenery all the way, a dreary lunch in a basement restaurant that seemed to be serving "all" the bits of a rabbit and then on to see Victor and Guillermina at Finca Manzanos. Watch this space for some significant changes to closures on these wines....Rioja goes all modern....

Sunday night in Laguardia was spent watching the football. Suprisingly subdued, the locals watched their country win the Euro final as we munched croquetas and drank a fantastic bottle of Contino...

Monday in Rioja was spent searching for a new wine to fill the Rioja slot in our new brand, Los Pecadillos. Not yet launched, this is set to be the most exciting project we have completed yet....you will all hear about it very soon!!!

Winds of change.....

2007-12-01T07:17:00.000-03:00

A week into my latest trip down under and I've finally found some time to update the blog courtesy of a dismal evening in Christchurch, South Island! It always strikes me that although the countryside of New Zealand is spectacular and beautiful, some of its towns are a little less salubrious. After a tour of the possible eating venues this evening, I began to see why there also seems to be a variety of stores selling mind-bending drugs!

The week began in Melbourne and after a freshen up at the airport, it was straight into with a visit to the Shelmerdine vineyards up in Heathcote before ending up in the Yarra with Steve Webber of De Bortoli. Shelmerdine's wines continue to get better and better and though Heathcote remains perilously drought ridden, the Yarra vines have bounced back from the widespread frosts of 2006 with a good potential crop. The overnight stay with Steve Webber was an excellent opportunity to not only drink some nice wine, but to hear more of Steve's views on "wines with detail"......wines that rely on texture and complexity rather than fruit.

A visit to the Lusatia Park vineyards ,that provide the fruit for the PHI joint venture between Shelmerdine and De Bortoli, the following day rounded off my visit to the Yarra

Australia and New Zealand often appear to be quite close together but travelling to N.Z from Melbourne seemed to take an age. The flight to Auckland was delayed so the connection to Blenheim was missed and an overnight stay in Wellington resulted. An early flight the next day and finally I had reached my destination...Marlborough.

This region is positively booming with vineyards as far as the eye can see. The debate rages as to exactly how much further it can expand and retain credibility but it is quite clear that the N.Z Sauv Blanc bubble shows no sign of bursting. The purpose of the visit was to visit Owen and Wendy Glover whose Zephyr wines we have just taken on. With vines dating back to the mid 80's, their Dillon's Point vineyards are some of the most established in the region and have a good track record of supplying quality fruit to high profile labels like Wither Hills and Grove Mill. The first releases of Zephyr Sauv Blanc and Gewurz are just about to hit the UK so keep an eye out for what promises to be one of the best new releases for a long while. It's a real family operation and the quality of the wines is backed up with a passion and belief in the quality of what they do....

Tomorrow I'm off to Adelaide for a hectic couple of days with suppliers and also a significant UK buyer so it's going to be a busy but fun couple of days before the final leg in glorious Margaret River. Hopefully I'll get a chance to update again before I head off next Saturday.....

Winning Ways!

2007-09-27T08:57:00.000-03:00

As many of you might have seen, Alliance had a great year at the International Wine Challenge this year with our suppliers picking up 4 trophies and us picking up the award for Best Australian Merchant. We also were runners up in the award for Best Spanish Merchant.....always nice to get some recognition!

Thanks must go to all of our Australian and Spanish suppliers and especially to "Prof" at Majella and Juan Luis Canas who both picked up 2 trophies this year. We'll be pushing to win both categories next year......

Keep an eye out for some great Aussie offers to tie in with the award........

Totally Wild!

2007-09-04T16:08:00.000-03:00

After 11 hours on a plane with the company of 2 screaching infants (not mine!) beside me to remind me of the joys of British Airways cattle class, I arrived in the Cape on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, my luggage had not yet decided to get on the plane from Edinburgh! Couldn't even blame Heathrow this time....

After what they claim to have been one of the coldest, wettest winters on record, the Cape appears to be emerging fairly rapidly from the gloom with temperatures up to about 23 degrees yesterday - something we could only have wished for over our summer. First port of call was to see Virgin Earth - something Kobus du Plessis (also the owner of Havana Hills) has been pestering me about for years.

About 3 years ago, Kobus started talking about this amazing place far away from established wine regions and very close to both where he grew up and to his heart. Over a few drinks one evening in his Cape Town flat, we came upon the name Virgin Earth and the estate has been called this ever since.

Virgin Earth has recently been granted status as the only winery in the new Langeberg-Garcia district and after my visit, I feel sure that we are going to hear rather a lot about what is happening here. 44 000 acres sounds like a large property, but nothing can prepare you for the wide open expanses and sheer wilderness that confronts every one of your five senses.

Less than 20 hectares are planted to vines, with the rest being mountains and scrubby karoo terrain. A huge variety of native flowers and trees provide a habitat that is home to a wide variety of creatures. 3 hours riding in the dirt-eating rhino buggy exploring this wilderness brought sightings of Springbok, Oryx, Wildebeast, Ostrich, Terrapin, Tortoise, Antelope and Baboons - not to mention a huge variety of birds. Apparently leopards and foxes are also regular visitors just to add to the variety.

This is all extraordinary stuff - difficult to take in over such a short period of time and one can see why Kobus is so attached to the place. Perhaps more extraordinary still is the lengths that Kobus has gone to make this a quality wine estate. A lack of cool storage space for barrels early on in the development of Virgin Earth led to the bizarre but succesful practice of submerging barrels in the lake! Strange as it sounds, Kobus is convinced that the cool, dark surroundings lead to a a nice slow wood integration and helps to keep the wine tasting fresh. Not sure I can see Gallo adopting this approach just yet!

The challenges set by this remarkable terrain are various. During the growing season, the cool winds sweep down over the vineyards making it difficult to stand up and driving yields down. As one would also expect, water could also be a problem but Kobus has tapped into the natural water supplies from the mountains to fill various lakes and dams so that water is plentiful. Contruction of a huge lake is nearly complete and when finished, huge fountains will rise from the centre which, when caught by the wind, will spray just enough water over the vines to cool them down and slow the ripening process - ambitious stuff!!!

Kobus is not used to people saying no to him and doesn't accept that anything is impossible. Having seen Virgin Earth, it's easy to accept that whilst entirely mad, Kobus' inventive, visionary approach has made something that seemed to impossible to many, a reality.

We're yet to see the best of Virgin Earth and the 2008 vintage is possibly going to see the first wines that truly put the property on the map. I'm personally really inspired by projects like this - it's nothing about return on investment, it's not about making ordinary, consumer friendly wines but it is about pushing the boundaries and proucing wines with a real sense of place.

IWC Triumphs!

2007-07-11T06:26:00.000-03:00

Short on the travel front this month and whilst discussions of British Airways mounting baggage chaos at Heathrow are relevant to my frequent visits to London, they don't have quite the same appeal as a travelogue from the Andes!

So, in lieu of exciting travel I'm delighted to share the news that Alliance and some of it's key partners have done extremely well at this year's International Wine Challenge. Hiru 3 Racimos from Bodegas Luis Canas won the Best Spanish Red Wine Trophy as well as Best International Tempranillo Trophy whilst Majella's Musician Shiraz Cabernet picked up Best Australian Red and Best Coonawarra Red Trophy. Not bad going eh?!

Of course, we're delighted as it gives us more of an excuse the celebrate at the awards dinner on September 12th. We'll be joined by the guys from Luis Canas and Prof from Majella is making his way over as well. Should be a good night.

Homeward Bound

2007-05-06T21:11:00.000-03:00

Right, let's try again! I wrote a piece, reviewed it and then managed to delete it before I published it - doh!

So, tomorrow I begin a rather long, convoluted journey home and it will be with mixed emotions. It's a been an exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable visit to Chile and Argentina with many memorable moments along the way. However, the prospect of being in one place for more than a night and the opportunity to unpack all those clothes that, once again, I haven't used is looking very attractive!

Today was another photo opportunity with me appearing on a horse once again. Until last week, my first 36 years have been rather lacking in the horse department but I'm making up for it now with mucho gusto. Last week it was at Botalcura, then on Friday I was greeted at Undurraga in Maipo by a horse drawn cart ready to take me on a tour of the vineyards. Then, today, in temperatures more akin to a Scottish mid-winter, I left the fantastic Estancia de Pablo atop another sedate mare called Pajo. With less of an appetite than last weeks victim, we made a happy pair, trotting along beside babbling brooks filled with rainbow trout whilst freezing various outer extremities off! Back at the Estancia, we were greeted with hot Mate ( a type of infused herb hot drink), coffee and incredibly moreish sobepillas. It's a great place and one that would be lovely to go back to in better weather.

On the work front, Zuccardi has been innovating as usual and this Autumn will see the release of a great new range with some exciting new styles for Argentina. One has to amire the passion and commitment that Zuccardi inspires and the levels of help and hospitality are a lesson to us all....

So, what of this visit? What will it mean to Alliance?

Well......I'm not going to tell you just yet. A little distance and 15 hours on a plane home will hopefully bring about a brief moment of clarity. What is for sure though is that we haven't seen the best of South America just yet. I've seen some world class wines, some superb value wines and some sleeping giants who's dozing days are over. There are some great opportunities for those wineries wishing to accept the challenge of making exciting, characterful wines with a clear sense of place and whilst the economic situation for some in Chile is currently challenging, there are plenty that are eager to have a go.

As a company that has a superb Spanish portfolio, it is tempting to extend that to all hispanic wines.....watch this space for future developments...

Adios amigos

Hasta Luega