The Majestic Wine Blog

It ‘Vin de Pays’ To Know

John Abbott — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:07:58 +0000

An interesting bit of news for you. Come the start of August, Vin de Pays - the wide-reaching term for French wine between table wine and appellation-approved quality wine - will be no more. In its place will be the new Indication Géographique Protegée system – designed to give current Vin de Pays producers a foot-up to sit [...]

A Fine Old Time

John Abbott — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:46:35 +0000

It wasn’t so long ago that I found the idea of buying Fine Wine intimidating. It seemed like an old-boys game – a game where you need all sorts of connections to source it, not to mention a chequebook the size of Bordeaux to actually acquire it, and when you did you’d be too scared [...]

Majestic’s 150th store!

Richard Weaver — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:50:03 +0000

It barely seems like 5 minutes since we celebrated our 100th store (Dorchester, in May 2002 as a matter of fact) and here’s yet another significant milestone in the growth of Majestic. Our 150th store is located on Leith Walk in central Edinburgh, and we had the honour of the Deputy Lord Provost, Councillor Rob Munn, [...]

Majestic Wine PLC Preliminary Results

Majestic — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:10:39 +0000

Majestic Wine PLC (”Majestic” or the “Company”), the UK’s largest wine specialist, today announces its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2009. Download the full statement (PDF format) Highlights Total sales increased by 2.4% to £201.8m (2008: £197.0m). Underlying profit before tax down 22.3% to £12.7m (2008: £16.4m). Profit before tax down 55.8% to £7.4m (2008: £16.7m) [...]

Find a Match in France

Gary Bates — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:35:49 +0000

There comes a time in one’s life when it seems as though everyone else is getting married, and for me that happy chapter has now begun, perfectly timed to remind me that my twenties are soon to meet their demise. Over the past few months my close friends and relatives have been either getting married [...]

A Manager’s View of Wine Uncorked

Emma Pook — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:49:50 +0000

Firstly, I guess it makes sense to introduce myself: I’m Emma and until 2 weeks ago, I was the Manager in our Twickenham store. I recently made the move to Majestic’s Head Office where I now look after our website content – believe me – it’s no mean feat trying to keep track of Majestic’s [...]

Rosé-tinted specs…

John Abbott — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:18:28 +0000

It would be true to say that there are many things that divide opinion amongst wine consumers. Oaked or un-oaked, ‘malo’ or single ferment, cork or screwcap. Mixed triviality weightings in the wider context perhaps, but each is important in understanding the nuances of the wine in bottle. An understanding of how a [...]

Bollinger Champagne House Visit, April 2009

Majestic — Thu, 28 May 2009 09:15:45 +0000

Richard Hook - Sanderstead Manager I was recently lucky enough to be invited to visit the Bollinger Champagne house, an invitation no-one should refuse. The 6 of us met Tim and Chloe, our hosts for the day, in Vauxhall and although it is a 7 hour drive to Champagne it didn’t feel like it, though perhaps [...]

Vineyard tours of Chile

Majestic — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:56:19 +0000

Graeme Shepherd – New Barnet Manager Nothing short of spectacular. Chile is geographically protected with the Atacama Desert to the north, ice fields in Patagonia to the south squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. This varied land provides ideal conditions for wine production. Chile was protected from the dreaded Phylloxera louse that decimated vineyards in the 19th [...]

Chilean Winery Visit.

Majestic — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:58:03 +0000

Christine Mitchell – Bearsden Manager. After a mad dash at Madrid Airport to catch our flight to Chile and dealing with missing luggage at Santiago airport, we eventually arrived in one piece at Casa Real, the hotel at Vina Santa Rita to be greeted with a nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Casa Real is an old colonial [...]

Bordeaux 2008: Clos du Marquis and Cheval Blanc Released

Majestic — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:48:23 +0000

We are pleased to announce the release of Clos du Marquis and Cheval Blanc within our Bordeaux 2008 En Primeur range. It is not a good idea to suggest to Monsieur Delon that Clos du Marquis is the second wine of famed Second Growth Léoville-Las-Cas, it comes from a distinct terroir and was one of the [...]

Severe hail hits Bordeaux

Richard Weaver — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:15:35 +0000

An interesting news item on Decanter.com caught my attention this morning, with hailstorms damamging vineyards in St-Emilion and the southern Médoc. As the article points out, it’s too early for this to affect quality, but damage to the vine’s delicate new growth this early in the season could potentially lead to a reduced crop for the [...]

Vintage Port 2007 available now

Richard Weaver — Fri, 15 May 2009 10:00:22 +0000

Today Majestic is pleased to begin offering 2007 Vintage Ports en primeur. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Vintage Port is a great buy en primeur partly because it is only ‘declared’ in exceptional vintages, and partly because it is the most affordable way to buy wine to cellar for several decades. This also makes [...]

Bordeaux 2008: Ducru-Beaucaillou

Richard Weaver — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:18:02 +0000

After stating yesterday that this week would see a pause in the campaign during the London International Wine Fair, it appears the Majestic crystal ball has malfunctioned: Ducru-Beaucaillou, one of the wines of the vintage for us and most commentators, has been released. With the same Parker marks as Latour we expect this to be [...]

Bordeaux 2008: Montrose, Eglise Clinet and Branaire-Ducru

Richard Weaver — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:46:44 +0000

The flood of releases from Bordeaux appears to be drawing down, and we’re on the home straight now as far as the 2008 campaign is confirmed – although there are still a few big names to come. It’s the London International Wine Fair this week, which may result in a hiatus, but we would hope [...]

2007 Vintage Port coming soon

Richard Weaver — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:42:25 +0000

All the major Port houses have “declared” the 2007 vintage, and we will soon be offering the wines en primeur. Port is an interesting wine to buy this way for several reasons: Only the very best vintages are “declared”; it last happened in 2003 and 2000. Port is the least expensive way to buy a wine that [...]

Bordeaux 2008: Figeac and Pichon-Baron

Richard Weaver — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:00:40 +0000

We have a couple of exciting new releases today. Pichon-Baron is a wine that almost everyone we’ve spoken to was impressed by, and at £500 per case we expect this to sell. Over in St-Emilion, Figeac is another wine that stood out in our tastings. One further new release today is Yquem, which is only available [...]

Bordeaux 2008: Parker’s scores announced

Richard Weaver — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:36:36 +0000

Robert Parker has revealed his scores for the 2008 vintage, and his assessment is glowing, “with a number of superb wines that are close to, if not equal to the prodigious 2005 or 2000 vintages”: “It did not take me long to realize that the 2008 vintage was dramatically better than I had expected. It had [...]

May offers are here

Richard Weaver — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:28:26 +0000

This morning we launched our new offers for May, just in time for the coming bank holiday weekend. We have 20% off New Zealand, Chile, Italy and Beaujolais, as well as loads of Champagne deals (for example Veuve Clicquot for £24.99) and a range of offers from Spain, Australia and on summery rosé wines. I wanted [...]

Bordeaux 2008: great value releases

Richard Weaver — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:30:31 +0000

A slight lull has descended over the major Bordeaux châteaux after last week’s excitement, presumably in anticipation of Robert Parker’s marks which are due any day now. This gives us the opportunity to focus on some less exalted but great value releases that are ideal for those looking to spend a little less a case. First [...]