What do you think when you see a discounted wine deal in your local supermarket? I suspect most people just buy some then wonder why the ‘£10’ wine they got for a fiver tastes like a £5 bottle of wine.
I used to get drawn in by these offers but came to realise that often (I’m being generous, my cynical nature wants me to say ‘always’) the price was manipulated so that it just fit in with government requirements on offers and in the end was giving you little or nothing.
As someone who hates being tricked by over-dominant businesses I stopped buying wine in supermarkets, unless I recognise the wine and think the price is indeed a bargain (although probably less of a bargain than their offer implies).
I then tried wine companies such as Virgin Wines, Laithwaites and Averys (now all the same company) but still felt the prices and offers did not match the quality of the wine I was getting so the relationship ended. Then followed a period with Majestic Wines, which I still occasionally use if passing through Calais. To be honest I don’t remember why I stopped using Majestic on a regular basis, maybe I’ll pop in again.
Still on the hunt for a company who would supply wine at reasonable prices and whose offers are genuine I stumbled upon Naked Wines who have an unusual business model which, in summary, involves funding small producers around the world so that they can make more and/or better wines which in turn allows Naked Wines to achieve greater value by buying them at better prices. So far this seems to be working well for me but their range can be a little restrictive if you want something particular.
Next supplier please enter stage right! A recommendation in Which? magazine brought The Wine Society to my attention so I recently signed up and must say I am impressed by the choice of wines available. For various (non-sinister) reasons I haven’t bought much from them yet, but I certainly plan to sample their wares.
So, after all this my wine buying pattern is currently:
– regular stock from Naked Wines
– specific wines and ad-hoc stock from The Wine Society
– Majestic in Calais were getting my custom but they may lose this as the Wine Society have an outlet about an hour away that offers their wines with an adjustment for France’s lower tax.
And the supermarkets? I recently bought a few bottles in a Supermarket while visiting some relatives and, surprise, surprise, my taste buds didn’t get that £10 feeling when I drank their ‘£10 reduced to £5’ wine. Like me, I suggest you vote with your feet until supermarkets start playing fair.
The Marston family, England