About 15 years ago, I remember questioning a very knowledgeable man at Nielsen about the future of wine specialists. I’d become aware of a flurry of new openings: shops which offered high-end and quirky wines, entirely different to what was available in Threshers or even Oddbins, and certainly the supermarkets. It seemed, at least to me, an exciting development.

The knowledgeable man gave a little smile. Some of these shops would perhaps buck the trend, he conceded. But to do so they would need to embrace convenience. Stamps, newspapers, toilet rolls, Pot Noodles – that kind of thing. Pure wine specialism would not be enough to keep them afloat.

Those words of wisdom didn’t ring true then, and recent history has proved the theory wrong. Hundreds of specialist wine shops have sprung up, many are thriving, and very few of them sell toothpaste or ready meals.

But as Bill Rolfe points out in a thought-provoking column in the new edition of The Wine Merchant, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t at least consider broadening their specialism beyond wine. Rolfe’s own shop, The Market Square in East Grinstead, is a good example of how this can work.

It has its own mini bakery. It sells local cheeses. You can get some of your fruit and veg there. It also sells convenience foods. Yet the wine offer remains strong, and sits at the heart of the store’s proposition. “The trick is not to lose the specialist wine tag, but to build around it,” Rolfe explains.

For some independents, this business model will be a bridge too far. Many don’t have the space to do what The Market Square has done; others will fear being tagged as “generalists”, and meeting the same fate as Unwins and Threshers, both of which ended up in no man’s land with their wine ranges.

Yet Rolfe’s perspective is an interesting one. The model clearly works for him, and there’s no reason to suppose there’s anything particularly unique about East Grinstead. Why shouldn’t a wine shop also be a place where you can pick up some artisanal bread, or charcuterie? Why should lovers of craft ales or speciality spirits have to trek to a different shop to indulge their tastes? Is selling premium coffees and teas really so different to selling quality wines?

More and more independents (like Champion Wines, profiled in the same issue) are seeing the benefits of opening up delicatessen areas and using some of their space for on-premise sales. It doesn’t mean they’re selling less wine. They’re actually selling more.

They’re not becoming convenience stores, by any stretch of the imagination. But they are offering extras that their customers find convenient. It doesn’t seem like a controversial move.

Graham Holter

Editor

So how are independent wine retailers doing? What do they need from us? Do they prefer to ship direct or deal with UK suppliers? Is the internet a big deal for them? How many of them sell cheese?

These questions are asked with almost monotonous regularity. It’s not surprising that there should be so much interest in a sector that just keeps on growing, despite all the whispers that “these people really aren’t making any money” and “lots of them are going to have to close”.

Such dire predictions have been circulating for at least a decade, in which time the population of independent specialists has gone from below 500 to almost 700 now. True, the number of millionaires this has created is approximately zero, but that’s hardly the point. It is possible to make a living running a wine shop, especially if you have enough time and imagination to bolt on a few extras: some wholesaling perhaps, tasting events almost certainly, some specialist food retailing, an area for morning coffees, a regular wine school. (This list is by no means prescriptive, or exhaustive.)

The Wine Merchant has carried out its first reader survey and the results are published in the April edition. It is probably the widest-reaching survey of the sector, and it reveals much about the health of the independent wine trade.

The financial side of things is particularly revealing. The average turnover of an independent wine specialist is £864,553. If that sounds a little high, bear in mind this is the figure for the business as a whole, and that business may well have more than one shop. In fact we calculate there are 689 specialist wine shops in the UK, run by 487 operators. That’s about 1.4 shops per business.

In other words, each shop is turning over an average of £617,537 and the independent trade in its entirety is worth around £421 million.

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The Wine Merchant is launching a unique wine competition. Not only is it restricted to wines sold in the independent trade, it will be judged by independents, too.

The Wine Merchant Top 50 is open to anyone who sells or imports wines aimed at independents. We don’t want supermarket wines, or wines that aren’t already available in the UK. This is a competition for wines that independents can get their hands on, now.

The judging process is being overseen by the esteemed Olly Smith, and David Williams, who readers will know writes a column each month for The Wine Merchant and is also the Observer’s wine critic.

We’ll be putting the wines through their paces in July and announcing the 50 winners in the autumn, before embarking on a national tasting roadshow to show retailers the wines which came out on top.

If you’re interested in entering, or are an independent yourself and could maybe join the judges in July, take a look at the website. All the information you need is right there.

The sun is shining, the clouds are clearing, and the temperature is above freezing. Yes, it must be summer. Enjoy it while you can – before you know it, we’ll be in June, the official beginning of the rainy season, and you’ll look back on these balmy days with affection and perhaps a little regret.

Did you realise that issue 11 of The Wine Merchant has now been published? The digital edition is free, to all ages, races and creeds. This month we’re off to Tenterden to explore the wonderful Liquid Pleasure store run by Ian Florey; we report on new independents in Northampton (yes, honestly) and St Andrews (yes, another one); we review the pick of this month’s wines; and discuss a new wine preservation system which could save retailers a lot of money.

David Williams ponders what would happen if a well-known wine merchant sold out to Tesco, while Jonathan Richards of Best Cellars in Ashburton makes a heartfelt plea for an overhaul of the licensing system. We preview all the upcoming tasting events, have a few words with Emporia boss James Rackham, and ask Symposium Wines boss Henry Breeze about the things that get him excited.

On top of that, Reserve Wines owner Kate Goodman, the new presenter of Food & Drink, tells us why she has no intention of trying to be the new Jilly Goolden.

There are also a few responses to last month’s criticism of the WSET Diploma, including two thoughtful pages from David Wrigley MW of that august organisation.

And we really do have news from the world of art, jazz and cakes. We don’t joke about such things.

Graham Holter

Vice President, Northern Hemisphere

Sometimes we don’t realise how lucky we are. We’ve got the world’s most important sparkling wine region right on our doorstep, and every year London plays host to the largest Champagne tasting. In the world.

This year’s event takes place at The Banqueting House in Whitehall. It’s where Charles I lost his head in 1649, but the Champagnes poured on March 13 will scarcely have time to do the same.

Here’s a short video of last year’s tasting and how it all came together. If you can spot yourself, award yourself three points and shout “hooray!” twice. If you want to register, you can use this link.

The Wine Merchant is approaching its first anniversary. We’re celebrating by teaming up with Negociants UK in what we believe will be the most comprehensive survey of independent wine specialists.

We know our readers are busy people and so we’ve kept the survey short and sweet: just 15 questions in total, which should take 10 minutes at most to complete.

Three respondents will be selected at random and sent a mixed case of fine Australian wines as a thank-you for taking part.

You do need to be an independent wine merchant, with a shop, to join in. Sadly that excludes our online-only friends but we’ll be focusing on you good people another time, very soon.

Click here to take the survey now.

How was your Christmas? “Late” is the most common answer we’re getting from the independent sector.

Issue 10 of The Wine Merchant is bang on time, however, for which we thank our contributors, advertisers, printer and distributor. If your copy hasn’t arrived yet, have no fear. It’s on its way.

You are strongly advised to stop reading the rest of this post, and simply click on the digital edition to find out exactly what our February edition is all about. However …

It’s another bumper issue, full of news about openings in the indie market, wine reviews, interesting things that retailers are working on, and updates from leading suppliers.

There are four pages devoted to previews of the hectic tasting season in prospect, the usual brilliance from David Williams, and the second part of our California: The Art of the State initiative. This month we profile some of the excellent red wines that want to make a case for a place on your shelves.

There’s a special report on the Rolleston Wine Group, which counts around 30 independents among its members, and a thought-provoking piece by Robert Boutflower of Tanners, who suggests that the WSET Diploma needs to be more focused on the business needs of retailers. Is he right when he says the syllabus has become too esoteric? We’re interested in what others have to say.

Thanks to everyone who continues to support our little magazine, who says nice things, and who puts the occasional crazy idea into our heads. We hope you like our tenth issue.

Graham Holter

Editor