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Good Bottle Shops in the UK
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:26 am
by David
Hi all,
I am going to the UK for a working holiday. I probably would be in the UK for 6 months. I wonder whether there's any good bottle shops or liquor stores with good prices and regular free tastings that people would recommend. Much appreciated.
UK wine shops
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 7:13 pm
by Phil Shorten
David
There's a lot of good wine shops in the UK - tastings are run intermittently though not always (indeed rarely) for free.
Some retails I recommend include:
Berry Bros + Rudd
Noel Young (Cambridge)
Moreno Wines (good for Spanish)
Lea & Sandeman
Lay & Wheeler
Hanfords Wines
Philglas + Swiggot
Cheers
Phil
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 5:02 am
by Ian S
Phil's suggestions are good - places you'd want to buy wine from.
If however you're not near them, the national chains
- Majestic sell a decent range, but min. order 1 case. Regular in-store tastings pretty unimpressive
- Oddbins used to be excellent, still interesting, but I've lost faith in them. Saturday tastings are rarely of interest. HOWEVER, there are some stores that are very good with vibrant tasting clubs, offering tastings of serious wine.
- Supermarkets. As a rule firmly aimed at the general public, who'll pick up a bottle or two of Jacob's Creek or Rosemount. Occasional gems, but generally it has to be big volume production to make it onto the shelves.
- Threshers/bottoms up. Almost challenged oddbins, but never made it work - generally a small improvement on supermarkets
Which brings me back to Phil's comments. The gems lie within the small local merchants who really love what they do. If you know where you'll be staying then I'm sure we can dig out a couple of suggestions.
Ian