The return of the independent wine merchant

[Red Bigot]

Article by Jancis Robinson with a UK context, hope it continues to happen here as well.
http://www.jancisrobinson.com/categorie ... news050122

Also saw a note by Huon Hooke in the SMH Good Living this week about the departure of two experienced senior staff from Woolworths liquor division, with Huon surmising "strict controls from HO, lack of freedom and rationalisation of stock range and marketing activities results in boredom and loss of job satisfaction".

I hope the "era of the supermarket chains in wine-marketing to the masses" is also the "era of the independent merchant catering to the thinking wine-buyer". I'm doing my bit to support the independents, how about you?

[dr thrompolson]

Great post Brian; thanks for the link to the article...there is nothing better than informed staff guiding your interests whether it is in music or in a restaurant...the way to develop is to have the wisdom to seek advice from the experts

something a supermarket does not aim for....support the independants!

[smithy]

Got to support the independants, so this was a very due post.
Given the increasing power of the Safeways/ Dans etc and their power to screw prices for the medium sized wineries (which they may or may not pass on to the consumer) I say give them a miss!

The knowledge and service of your smaller better bottle shop is worth paying for, in Melbourne we have seen the rise of the good independants....Randall's, Parkhill, Ritchies etc.

The really top small wineries don't sell to the big chains.. they don't need to!

Cheers

Smithy

[London Correspondent]

I can truly say I've bought nothing from the chains, and I own a fair bit of wine.

That doesn't make the independent's saints though, the buggers are sending me broke.

Cheers,
JM

[Guest]

In Melbourne prices can be high at independent retailers, but not always. I don't begrude paying a few dollars more for dealing with informed and enthusiastic staff and for having the chance of finding something interesting rather than the formulaic, commercial selections at the chains. In any case, independent retailers can often be quite price competitive. Particularly with wines from smaller producers, I have noticed the independents quite often charging less than Dan Murphys. I might also add that Vintage Cellars is a chain and their prices are among the highest in Melbourne!

[Ian S]

One of the recent big drivers in UK has been independants targeting regional specialisation e.g. Italian, Spanish, Languedoc, Australia, NZ, Beaujolais, Germany. Each of those countries/regions has at least 1 independant whose main stock is devoted to it. Others aim across the board, but often with noted areas of expertise.

It seems Australian independants seem to stick to an "across the board" approach to imports - is this a fair comment?

Ian