Landlords wise up to wine
THE pub wine crusade continues. This month, the Chef & Brewer brand of pubs, owned by Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), launches a new, rather exciting wine list. Not that the wines were ever exactly dull - just safe, bordering on the conservative.
The new list replaces the long-standing Liebfraumilch, for example, with a 1997 Riesling Kabinett. There's a Malbec Rosé from Argentina, a Chenin Blanc from South Africa and an Aussie fizz (Green Point).
The powers-that-be at S&N turned to Observer wine writer Tim Atkin for help with this transition. For the past few months he has been nosing through the line-up at S&N's wine-merchant arm Waverley, and chatting to Chef & Brewer landlords about wine.
Atkin has showed them how to tell when a wine is corked, how to open Champagne, the difference between Old and New World, and the like. He's armed them with wine-savvy one-liners that trip off the tongue to help customers make their choice.
He's enlightened them about hot new wine regions, and has pointed out the potential profits. In short - he's got them thinking. "No matter how good a wine list is, if the publican is not interested, it's not going to work," he says.
Profit is a key word here. Chef & Brewer's most recent sales figures show that wine accounts for 22% of liquor sales - a figure four times that of a typical pub. The statistics also show, the company claims, that the split between the purchase of standard, premium and fine wines in Chef & Brewer mirrors the purchase profile of supermarkets and off-licences, another local boozer rarity. And that was before Atkin came along.
But Chef & Brewer thinks it can achieve even more wine sales, "to reflect the more sophisticated nature of the food we are serving", explains Bob Ivell, managing director of S&N's restaurant division.
The Chef & Brewer brand has been around since 1996. The first pub opened in Northampton, followed by 49 more, mostly in the South and West.
There are 10 more planned for the end of the year. S&N targeted mostly rural locations - pubs that lend themselves to candle-lit tables in the evenings, with landlords who have a creative bent (ie, can show off a bit with the "specials"). "We attract a more sophisticated pub diner," says Ivell. "And the wine list should reflect that."
What surprised Atkin was how much people would pay for wine in a Chef & Brewer pub. "Chablis sells well, so does the cheapest wine, but the middle ground was losing out. There's a lot of potential there," he says. So this is what he has concentrated on.
With high-street trends as Chef & Brewer's main reference point, there's a surge from the New World on the new 20-bin list. Argentina makes an appearance for the first time (both the Rosé and the Malbec are from Santa Ana, £9.35 a bottle), there's a new Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (Mount Riley, £11.90), and a new Aussie Chardonnay (Moondarra, £10.15). All 20 are available by the glass. Early reports suggest it's going down a treat. n
by Fiona Sims
