AMA: wedding/party wine & the Showroom with Marjorie Cropp

[laura]

Welcome to our third Ask Me Anything event! Today we’re thrilled to be joined by the lovely Showroom Assistant, ex-sommelier and WSET Diploma grad Marjorie Cropp - aka @mcropp!

We’ll be going live at 1pm!

About Marjorie

Marjorie joined the Society in June 2016 after having spent 13 years working as a sommelier in the London fine dining restaurant scene and most recently at the Auberge du Lac in Brocket Hall, which makes her a great expert at food and wine matching! She’s one of the go-to advisers in the Showroom for all your wedding/party/gift/food matching queries.

Although originally from Bordeaux, her favourite wine regions are the Rhône for reds and Burgundy for whites (so I’m sure she’s got many kindred spirits here on The Community. )

Today’s AMA: how it works

Our topic today is a mixture of wedding/party wine advice and secrets of the Showroom. You’ve been sending in your questions and we’ll be answering them today, but feel free to ask any followup/extra questions while we’re live and we’ll try to get through as many of them as possible!

This is your chance to ask questions LIVE without needing to visit the Showroom, and we hope you enjoy it. Do feel free to respond to questions or topics raised here, and if these conversations develop we can always turn them into conversations for the community to reply to.

Who’s joining us today?

[mcropp]

@"Leah

What are the best selling wines in the Showroom? I’d be interested to see whether they correspond to the online sales or do in showroom promotions influence buyers?

Hi leah, thanks for your question. Here are a few of the bestselling wines in the Showroom.
Society’s labels: White Burgundy, Claret, Rioja Crianza.
Duo des Mers,

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Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc, Rata Sauvignon Blanc,

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Lascar range,

Navajas Rioja,

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Ventoux Jaboulet

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, 3C Carinena, Domaine Laborie, Duo des Plages Rose, Chateau Canada.

Hope that helps!

[szaki1974]

It is te first time I here of Chateau Canada, had to look it up. Very interesting.

[mcropp]

@"Leah

Second question, I frequently purchase this wine for my MIL, as she is an old skool “Will only drink Chardonnay” type of person:

Lascar Classic Central Valley Chardonnay 2017

I’ve also discovered this recently as a value for money summer wine

Marsanne-Viognier, Les Pierres Bordes, Pays d’Oc 2017

And this, which will now become the “friends over, summer fizz” wine:

Hortas do Caseirinho Frisante

What other Summer party wines do you recommend, that are A) inexpensive, (As I loathe to provide wine for friends who drink like fish and have no appreciation for decent wine).

B)Not well known… ie: Portugese/ Greek etc…

C) More upmarket (for smaller groups) higher quality but refreshing.

Hi Leah, another very question and some suggestions for you:

From more obsure wine regions/grape varieties, I would say:
for whites: Ionos Greek wine 2017

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Gruner Vetliner Domaine Gobelsburg 2017

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, Gaillac Perlé Esprit de Labastide Cave de Labastide de Lévis 2017

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, Isola della Fiamma Grillo, Sicilia 2017,Old Vines in Young Hands Branco 2016 (Portugal) are all going to be easy drinking, light and refreshing for a lovely summer day.
As for reds, I would totally go for

Baccolo Appassimento Rosso Veneto 2016

The Wine Society | Free UK Delivery

Dipnos Greek Red Wine

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Isola della Fiamma Nero d’Avola 2017

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, Almeida Garrett Entre Serras, Beira Interior 2015, Sabina Tempranillo, Navarra 2016.

For a bit more upmarket, you could go for Castel Serranova Salento, Vallone 2013, Rioja Muja 2013

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, and for a lighter option,
Meerlust Estate Pinot Noir, Stellenbosch 2016

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For the whites, for the Society’s white Burgundy is perfect with pretty much anything, especially for buffet style food. A classic Sancerre is always popular too and if you’re after something a bit richer you could go for a white Rhone like
Vacqueyras Blanc Les Clefs d’Or, Clos des Cazaux 2015

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If your buffet consiste of spicy food, an off dry riesling would be perfect:
Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett, von Kesselstatt 2015

Regarding sparklers, a champagne would be very approriate to a fancier affair like The Society’s Champagne Brut NV as a classic or I particulary like the Champagne Pierre Gimonnet Premier Cru Brut NV as a smaller grower.

[laura]

It’s here:

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Bit of a bargain I’ve heard! Haven’t tried this vintage, though - anyone?

[Inbar]

That 3C cariñena has been on my mind for some time! One of my lovely local wine retails sell it- and I wasn’t aware that TWS stock it too! Straight into the wish list, then!

[mcropp]

@"Alchemist

On my visits to the showroom I’m always impressed with the available choice, but I wondered what percentage of wines currently on the TWS list are available to buy in the showroom? And, what factors drive the selection?

Hello @Alchemist

It is about 1/2 of what is online but all wines on the actual list are available in the Showroom.
Hope that helps!

[mcropp]

@"JayKay

Are bin end bottles all the ‘left overs’ of wines bought in quantity by TWS or are there any that are ‘special purchases’ which sometimes is the case in other shops’ non-wine related sales?

Hello @JayKay

Majority of bin ends are damaged or stained labels from brocken deliveries. “Bulk” bin ends are excess stock or end of line wines.
They are all in good drinking condition and usually best drunk within the year.

The average discount is 10%.

Come and grab a bargain!

[mcropp]

@"szaki1974

Are there better ‘bin end’ deals in the showroom than online?

Hi @szaki1974

There is more variety I guess. We get bin end in “bulk” as well as single bottles (wines that have had damaged or stained labels, wines from previous lists…).

Hope this helps!

[mcropp]

@"Bargainbob

If you were getting married this weekend, what would you choose as your red, white and sparkling options?

Hi @Bargainbob

I guess that if I was getting married this weekend, I would marry prince Harry and I would splash out with some pretty good vinos (bring on the Bolly and Chateau Mouton-Roschchild. Oh! and Tignanello, apparently Ms Markle’s favourite tipple. She’s got good taste this lady…!!)!

But because I’m not, these are what I would pick:
Pinot Blanc Cave de Turckheim from Alsace

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such a crowd pleasing wine, with soft mouth feel and delicate stone fruit and melon aromas.
For the red, either Baccolo Appasimento from Veneto, Italy (see link in previous post): very approachable and fruit forward and good concentration for the price!
Sparkling: if money was no object, Louis Roederer Champagne NV

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.On a budget: Blanquette de Limoux Reserve Antech from the Languedoc

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dry but soft with lovely peachy fruit.

What about you? What you would you choose?

[mcropp]

@"robert_mcintosh

I’d be interested to follow up on a conversation I had with @cgoldin about events and Sale or Return.

Sale or Return wines Membership

I gather that this is available for larger events when you aren’t sure of the volumes required. How often is this actually requested, and how often is any wine actually returned?

What state is this wine in, in your experience if/when it is returned, and what happens to it? I know that @Tim_S discussed this from a tastings point of view, but it would be very interesting to get the Showroom perspective too.

I know that if I was organising an event I would certainly keep this option in mind

Hi @robert_mcintosh

In my experience, we’ve never had a bad return.
To be honest, it is pretty rare that members bring back wines but if they do, we make sure that the labels are not damaged (for sitting in ice buckets for hours) and if we have a doudt about the actual quality of the wine, we send it to our quality team to assess.

Hope this helps!

[mcropp]

@"Nowt_in_my_glass

Is there a plan to open a second showroom…?

Hello @Nowt_in_my_glass

Not that I am aware of!
I don’t get to make that sort of decision, but that’s a good idea!

[mcropp]

@"Leah

Do you give any discount on large number of wines purchased for a wedding or party??

Hello @Leah

I’m afraid not.
We are a cooperative so we have a duty of fairness to all members.

Hope that explains it!

[szaki1974]

How much wine should one by for a wedding per guest?

[mcropp]

@"tom

What’s the:

oldest
most expensive
most popular
least popular
most asked for

bottle in the showroom?

Hello @tom

Our oldest bottle is also our mot expensive actually and it is in the Vintage Room: Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses, Roumier, Burgundy, France 1993 at £1200.
It’s not so bad…!

Our most popular wine is The Society’s Claret and The Society’s Burgundy. Classic!

Our least popular… I woudn’t know really, it’s a matter of price probably and also how well known the wine is.
Hope that makes sense?

The most asked for: except Society’s labels, the Duo des Mers for white (see link in previous post) and the Rioja Navajas (also link in previous post).
People loooove them!

[szaki1974]

Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses, Roumier, Burgundy, France 1993

Maybe it was obvious, but it is the first time it dawns on me that the showroom has wines that are not available online… Do you have a list of wines that are available in the showroom, but not online, khm, online?

[mcropp]

@"cgoldin

I would add as well:

most famous

most difficult (and how)

most eccentric (and how)

Hi @cgoldin

Thank you for your very interesting question

Because I am French (I have tried over to years to work on my accent but I always get found out anyway!), some members try to converse with me in the mother tongue which I always find very nice.

Most of our members are regulars so we know them well.
My favourite members are the ones that are asking for our help on dinner parties or larger events.

Then, some people will sadly assume that because I am a “younger” (I don’t look at over 25 of course!) and female staff, I won’t know anything about wine (I get the look of non trust). but I usually manage to convince them that I know my stuff by chatting to them!

[mcropp]

@"NickP

I’m interested what the average customer age is. I think of myself as being on the younger end of the wine enthusiast age range. I’m in my late 30s, but in my head I’m in my 20s. That is until I spend any time with someone in their 20s - then I feel like I’m in my 40s

Hello @NickP

During the week, we get people that have their free time so we get a lot of retirees. At the weekend, we have lots of families coming in and plenty of regulars.

[laura]

Whoops, we had a slight delay there as Marjorie reached the maximum number of replies a new user was allowed. It’s like ‘like’-gate from the TWS Taste all over again…

Had to use my almighty Admin powers to unsilence her - but we’re all set now! We’ll extend the AMA by 10 minutes so we have time to answer your questions.

[mcropp]

@"Rold24

What wine would you recommend for a hog roast? Thanks

Hi @Rold24

Hog roast has big flavours so you need an equally big wine to go with it otherwise, the wine won’t taste of anything, which is pointless if you ask me! I would choose anything from the Society’s Corbieres

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for example which has body and big fruit flavours as a simple option and if you can splash out, I would go for a nice nebbiolo such as Fara Ciada, Valle Roncati 2011

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Nebbiolo has naturally very good acidity and it works particulary well with pork as it cuts through the richness of the meat. Delicious!