During the interview for my job at the winery, the owner happened to comment that in her opinion "the English only drink cheap wine." Well, I have to tell you that I was a little taken aback with this obviously misinformed stereotype, as this had not been my life experience at all. My 18th birthday present from Thud had been a bottle of Ch. Margaux, nothing to be sneezed at by the most ardent wine enthusiast, and I already by then considered myself a bit of a Champagne-spotter. I suppose I could have retorted that most Napa wines are considered by Europeans to be over blown, high octane fruit bombs - but I am not one for gigantic, all-encompassing generalisations.Today, standing in Tesco's wine aisle, looking at the selection available to the British wine-drinking public, I would perhaps have to agree with the lady who signs my pay cheque. In the 2 years that have past since my last visit home to Blighty, I was hoping the selection of wine in the supermarkets may have improved (with specific regard to Californian wines), but alas no. With the demise of high street wine shops like Oddbins (good analysis here), a place I shopped at as a teenager, the consumer now has fewer and fewer wine choices. All the usual suspects are still on the shelves at Tesco and Sainsbury's, but this time they have been joined by a red wine apparently from Hollywood!!!
Like the proverbial coals to Newcastle, I just may have to repatriate a bottle of this pigswill to the U S of A. Brace yourself Vinomaker!
5 comments:
Hmmm....I nearly agree with you - but I don't think Tesco is necessarily a barometer. They tailor any offer very carefully to their local customer base; so the wine offering in, say, Hammersmith, is a bit different to the one in, say, Bolton.
Majestic still offer an eclectic range of wines, and speaking very personally, I have rarely been dissatisfied with Waitrose's offer. But then, I'm not in the wine-tasting league as you!!!
coals to Newcastle! HA! love it...
Uh oh VG. Don't we still have a plastic bottle from Tesco in the cellar that nobody has dared open? If you don't have room in your case in the end, just leave it in the cellar there to age...and age!
Affer: I would agree that a supermarket's wine aisle caters to the locals, this is very true in the SF Bay Area even. This particular selection was in a Tesco on the Wirral, so I'd hate to see the choice in some parts of England then!
Went to a 'Cork's Out' shop yesterday and I found the inventory to be just, OK. But then you'll often find me moaning about the lack of Italian wines in Napa stores! Moan, moan, moan...
2B: Wine is a many travelled thing...sing it 2B!
VM: Good Lord, I hope it's still not lurking in the wine cellar
Such images that conjures: Hollywood & Wine-- rendered from the harvest of freshly-squoze gymsocks of the authentic California bums along the Walk of Fame.
Nice.
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