A grape too far – a personal perspective on the wine market
Esme Johnstone | January 28, 2010Wine, thankfully, is no longer just the preserve of the rich or professional classes – it is a global consumer product, produced in most temperate countries, and has become a repeat purchase for most of us. Some scientists also believe it is now healthy to drink wine (in reasonable quantities), a far cry from the days of prohibition and the Temperance movement.
I have been fortunate enough to have experienced all aspects of the industry over the past 30 years as a merchant, retailer, wine grower and wine maker. My interest started at the age of 10 when my Father gave me a taste of wine and asked me to guess the year – the right answer was rewarded with a full glass. I did a quick inventory of his cellar and worked out that about 50% was 1929 Bordeaux. Thereafter I was given a full glass of marvelous claret 50% of the time – no skill was involved – just Scottish cunning!
Then some years later came Majestic , which I started with a friend – we were the first to sell wine from warehouses with an enthusiastic young team dressed in jeans as opposed to the black suits of St James Street, or the soul-less shelves of Tescos. I remember supplying both Maggie Thatcher, the then PM, and Neil Kinnock the Leader of the Opposition on the same day – the former with wine – never more that £5.00 a bottle – and the latter with firkins of real ale. The Class system was still alive & kicking then!
Growing grapes and making wine was much the hardest thing I have ever done – forget the romance – it is a 7 day a week job growing fruit, turning it into wine and then having to sell it around the world. It is an attention to detail and crisis management business! However seeing Japanese gourmets drinking ones own wine in an expensive restaurant in Tokyo did make it (almost) worthwhile!
Now to the present and www.FromVineyardsDirect.com which I started a few years ago with Publisher David Campbell – ‘Old World’ wine sold through the internet, which vastly reduces the overheads associated with the traditional trade, and gives the company a tremendous competitive edge. It is surely the way forward as the ‘virtual’ store is open all the time and provides far more information on the product than even the most informative shop. It is also a very exciting business as new wines can be added or updated instantly, and one knows how the business is doing literally by the minute, even from a blackberry.
As for the future, my fear for all wine lovers is excess taxation on wine which is already with us, and is regarded by socialist administration as a ‘soft touch’. With a bottle of wine that costs you £5.00 you are only paying 75p for the wine itself – at £10.00 you are paying £3.50 for the wine – I know which is better value and so should you!




Outside of 2005 and 2000 – 2008 may represent the best vintage of Bordeaux with a 2 on the front of it. The low crop (in our case a figure of 29hl/ha across all wines) was a direct cause of poor fruit-set and frost damage early in the season, and this ensured that the wines had sufficient concentration. At Teyssier we have never harvested as late as we did in 2008. We picked from the 6th October to the 23rd – almost into winter! It was this lateness that gave the vintage its uniqueness.
FVD had a stand at the Game Fair this year in the grounds at Belvoir Castle. It was a very jolly affair with lots of our more sporting customers & friends whom we entertained with a broad selection of our wines – and a very talented young Bag-Pipe player. Our neighbouring stands were an exotic mix – a holiday company with a beach in their stand and the Abu Dhabi Tourist Board with a couple of camels who looked slightly out of place in the Leicestershire countryside, to name but a few.
Liv-ex has 250 + trade members around the world who can buy and sell fine wine on the exchange in the same way that other commodities are traded. They also provide an independent valuation service for wine funds and collectors around the World. They have an enormous data base on all fine wines so if you want to find out what Chateau Lafite 2000 is worth now – and its trading history over the last 5 years, Liv-ex is the place to go.
The dinner at Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou was hosted by Bruno Borie, the dashing showman Proprietor, to celebrate the ‘fete’ of Saint Jean for about 250 lucky guests. It was a perfect balmy night that started with a champagne reception (Dom Perignon 2000 in magnums) in the gardens overlooking the Gironde River. At the bottom of the garden there was an enormous glass marquee which looked as if it might have been borrowed from Kew Gardens with 25 tables of 20, each with its own Chef & Sommelier.
The most severe of all is hail – not the hail we are used to but hail stones the size of golf balls – even tennis balls. A resident of Bergerac a few years ago had his brand new Bentley completely written off by hail so it is not hard to imagine the damage it can do to vines.


