The June issue of The Wine Merchant is out now.
Here it is in all its digital glory. If you have any questions, call us.
We’ve also published our Top 100 Winners’ Supplement – see the link on the right for the online edition.
Congratulations to the winners in this year’s Wine Merchant Top 100. It was a tough judging process, with our panel of 21 independents assessing wines not just on their taste credentials, but the value that they offer.
Some excellent wines missed out simply because judges weren’t comfortable with their pricing. The winners this year, all listed below, all impressed with their RRPs – even though many of the wines certainly aren’t cheap. But they do, in the opinion of the judges, offer good value.
The wines – and out 167 Highly Commended wines – will be discussed in more depth in our forthcoming winners’ supplement. All wines in the Top 100 are also available to taste this week at our London Wine Fair stand, upstairs and adjacent to Esoterica.
Trophies
Best Red
Uvas Felices El Hombre Bala Old Vine Garnacha, Madrid, Spain 2015 (£21.99, Boutinot)
Best White
Druida Reserva, Dão, Portugal 2016 (£24, The Knotted Vine)
Best Sparkling
Champagne Lelarge-Pugeot Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV (£36.49, Hallgarten)
Best Fortified
Barros Colheita Port, Douro, Portugal 2005 (£29, Hallgarten)
Best Rosé
Bird in Hand Pinot Noir Rosé, Adelaide Hills, Australia 2017
(£14.99, Seckford Agencies)
Best-Value Red
Cantina di Montalcino Brunito, Tuscany, Italy 2015 (£9.95, Enotria & Coe)
Best-Value White
Cavit Bottega Vinai Nosiola, Trentino, Italy 2017 (£9.99, Boutinot)
Best-Value Sparkling
Durello Palladiano Spumante Brut, Veneto, Italy NV (£9.99, Boutinot)
Best-Value Fortified
Valdespino Single-Vineyard Fino, Jerez, Spain NV (£18.49, Liberty Wines)
Best-Value Rosé
Domaines Paul Mas Claude Val Rosé, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2017
(£6.99, Domaines Paul Mas)
Congratulations to the 10 Trophy winners in this year’s Wine Merchant Top 100.
These are the wines that topped their categories in this year’s judging. Our other winners will be unveiled on Monday, May 21 at the London Wine Fair – where they will all be available to taste on our stand within Esoterica.
We’ll also be announcing a record crop of highly commended wines, which will appear in the winners’ supplement published next month with The Wine Merchant magazine.
Best Red
Uvas Felices El Hombre Bala Old Vine Garnacha, Madrid, Spain 2015
(£21.99, Boutinot)
Best White
Druida Reserva, Dão, Portugal 2016
(£24, The Knotted Vine)
Best Sparkling
Champagne Lelarge-Pugeot Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut, Champagne, France NV
(£36.49, Hallgarten)
Best Fortified
Barros Colheita Port, Douro, Portugal 2005
(£29, Hallgarten)
Best Rosé
Bird in Hand Pinot Noir Rosé, Adelaide Hills, Australia 2017
(£14.99, Seckford Agencies)
Best-Value Red
Cantina di Montalcino Brunito, Tuscany, Italy 2015
(£9.95, Enotria & Coe)
Best-Value White
Cavit Bottega Vinai Nosiola, Trentino, Italy 2017
(£9.99, Boutinot)
Best-Value Sparkling
Durello Palladiano Spumante Brut, Veneto, Italy NV
(£9.99, Boutinot)
Best-Value Fortified
Valdespino Single-Vineyard Fino, Jerez, Spain NV
(£18.49, Liberty Wines)
Best-Value Rosé
Domaines Paul Mas Claude Val Rosé, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2017
(£6.99, Domaines Paul Mas)
Over the past couple of years there’s been a lot of talk about the “hybrid” wine shop model. Merchants aren’t just selling wines for customers to take home with them. They’re inviting them to take a seat and enjoy their purchase on the premises, sometimes with a plate of charcuterie, and occasionally with a free-jazz musician providing some added entertainment.
As we reported a few months ago, most new entrants in the specialist independent trade are going the hybrid route – indeed it’s hard to know whether some should really be classed as wine bars that happen to have a retail element. But when you look at the 
market as a whole, it’s clear that these businesses are in a minority.
Our reader surveys of 2016 and 2017 reported that just 28% of indies sold wine for consumption on the premises. This year, that figure has jumped to nearly 36%, with a further 4% saying they will switch to the hybrid model in the coming year. Fourteen per cent of respondents are still weighing up the idea.
There will still be room for the classic wine merchant model. But how many more years will it be before such retailers find themselves in a minority?
The new wine bar at Connollys in Birmingham
Another judging day has come and gone. Almost 700 wines have been put through their paces by a team of 21 independent wine merchants and soon our Wine Merchant Top 100 winners will be announced.
This year’s judges came from as far afield as Orkney, Manchester, south Wales and the Isle of Wight. Between them they represent a pretty good cross section of the independent wine trade.
We worked them hard, and there were some tough decisions to be made. And we’re confident that the wines that they enjoyed the most – whether they turn out to be Top 100 winners or the Highly Commended wines that just missed the cut – will make for interesting tasting on our stand at the London Wine Fair.
We’ll unveil the winners on May 21. Watch this space!
