Some 10 years ago, at The London Wine Show I was promoting on a stand a winery that I was the agent for. I very quickly became very aware of what was involved in selling wine, especially a wine that was not the most fashionable in those days; Vina Tondonia from R. Lopez de Heredia.
From having been the consumer I was now facing the whole wrath of the press, restaurateurs, sommeliers, the professional free tasters and excited youngsters. Having canvased for Mrs Thatcher in the Labour strong hold of Hammersmith I was ready for a challenge, but despite the odd bit of rudeness it was a pleasure to see consumers try something different and get a reaction whether positive or not.
For me it was a chance to spread the word and not worry too much on pressuresales. The product was world class (in my mind), therefore I had no worries in being enthusiastic in its promotion.
I now have the privilege of being promoter, restaurateur and writer for a living, which also has a few negatives, especially when I enthuse highly about a certain wine in an article and the promoter then bombards me with calls trying to sell me his wine. Even with over 1,000 bins on my list I cannot list every wine I like!
What I do want a from a drinks supplier?
It really is a more complex question than it appears and the key point actually is – who is the consumer? Whether you are selling to a sommelier, owner, manager, or director of buying makes a huge difference.
For example, at a recent sommelier competition I judged we asked all the finalists what they would look for in a supplier if they were the sommelier of a prestige London hotel. Common answers given were ‘free trips’ and ‘free fridges’. It was certainly not the answer we wanted or expected.
Give that same question to an owner or director of buying you would get answers like; discount, payment terms, range of wines, quality, education, back up, delivery, product support and so on…
One of the positive changes that I have seen in the trade in the last decade is the much better credit control the wine trade now has with its customers. I have fought long and hard with my suppliers that I do not wish to be charged for all the bad debts that they occur, and failed to see how in the past they continued to supplyrestaurateurs, bars and others for months after their payment due dates had passed.
There are banks on the high street who professionally lend money. Wine suppliers are not bankers. The point is if a venue cannot make a profit after marking up a wine four times, and given over a month’s credit, they should not be worthy of support. Particularly as they have probably sold the wines within days of receiving them.
As a restaurateur our competition is no longer onlyfrom other restaurants, we nowhave to compete with the stay at home crowd, who have been cleverly encouraged by the smart supermarkets with meal deals that include wines. However, the guys that are succeeding in the on-trade are doing so very well, offering a bespoke service that ranges from innovations using preservation systems, superlative glassware, knowledge, guidance and new wines.
You need the knowledge
Every consumer now thinks that they are a wine connoisseur with their iPhone Apps, thus it is important that the staff have the knowledge to deal and work with this. The best suppliers offer full fact sheets on all their wines including tasting notes. For example, one can go onto Liberty Wines’ website and download wine tech and tasting notes together with pictures on all their wines.
For me the UK market has a huge thirst for new innovations, wines from lesser know areas, new varieties and prestige wine. The best way to get consumers to drink these wines is by the glass, and we must not under estimate the huge difference preservativessystems have made to the industry in the last 10 years.
Now we have the Coravin system which allows the finest wines to be poured by the glass and has allowed us as restaurateurs to step up to another level in what we can offer the consumer.
There is no question that encouraging glass sales (in sensible measures from 75ml to 100ml and 125ml being the max) will increase overall wine sales in an establishment. This encourages each person on a table to have a different wine and with each course. The perception of paying £10 for a (100ml) glass sounds far better than £75 for a bottle.
Tastings are key
Educating the on-trade is so important and in the UK, not only in London, we are blessed with so many tasting experiences. These to me are much more important than a salesman trailing the road. We need to encourage more of the on-trade to come to these tastings for they are, on the whole, attended by the same people (albeit guys at the top of their industry).
In recent years we have seen more drinks suppliers touring the Shires, and new group tastings, as well as trade bodies.
This needs to be encouraged as London is still light years ahead of the rest of the pack.
- In his next column Roger looks at the countries and varieties that are exciting not only his palate but the wallets of his customers.
