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,
Val de Loire Sauvignon Blanc, Rata Sauvignon Blanc,
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
Gruner Vetliner Domaine Gobelsburg 2017
, Gaillac Perlé Esprit de Labastide Cave de Labastide de Lévis 2017
, 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
For a bit more upmarket, you could go for Castel Serranova Salento, Vallone 2013, Rioja Muja 2013
, and for a lighter option,
Meerlust Estate Pinot Noir, Stellenbosch 2016
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
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.
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!
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.
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…).
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
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
.On a budget: Blanquette de Limoux Reserve Antech from the Languedoc
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.
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!
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?
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!
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.
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.
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
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
Nebbiolo has naturally very good acidity and it works particulary well with pork as it cuts through the richness of the meat. Delicious!
The wines that are in the Vintage Room are not available online as there are not enough quantity! Sorry!
The wines change very regularly (because of the small quantities) so we don’t have a list per se.