Where do you buy your wine?
Discussion
The Wine Society has a very good range of wines at all price points http://www.thewinesociety.com/ Lifetime membership is £40. Of all the supermarkets I would say Waitrose Wine is very good and rivals some more specialist wine merchants for quality of wine...they have a good sale twice a year with 25% off everything.
I've been buying wine over the last two or three years to lay down and have it stored...I don't have anywhere to keep wine myself for long periods. I think it gives me access to wine that I would otherwise struggle to buy in single bottles from most UK wine merchants and it would be expensive. When decent wine does hit the shelves it tends to be very over priced and dodgy vintages.
As an example I bought a 2009 Bordeaux last year called Capbern Gasqueton....recommended by Jancis Robinson the Wine Critic (the only wine she bought herself from the 2009 vintage). It cost me £130 in bond for a case (so no duty paid until I decide to have it delivered)....it will probably be drinking in 5 years and will cost me £10 to £12 a year to have stored. So at that stage it will have cost me £180 and I will have to pay duty of about £50 on the purchase price. So all in all the wine will have cost me £240. I reckon that wine would easily be £30 a bottle in a wine merchant and perhaps nearer £40 in 5 years time (if I can buy it). Obviously the more expensive the wine the less storage charges have an impact.
Obviously you have your money tied up (not a problem at current interest rates) and if you can store it yourself you save money that way. Long term I want to have my own storage. I've now got quite a few cases stored which would last us quite a while (certainly two or three years)but I will probably keep replacing/adding when something takes my fancy. It's my intention not to buy any more wine off the shelf!
I've been buying wine over the last two or three years to lay down and have it stored...I don't have anywhere to keep wine myself for long periods. I think it gives me access to wine that I would otherwise struggle to buy in single bottles from most UK wine merchants and it would be expensive. When decent wine does hit the shelves it tends to be very over priced and dodgy vintages.
As an example I bought a 2009 Bordeaux last year called Capbern Gasqueton....recommended by Jancis Robinson the Wine Critic (the only wine she bought herself from the 2009 vintage). It cost me £130 in bond for a case (so no duty paid until I decide to have it delivered)....it will probably be drinking in 5 years and will cost me £10 to £12 a year to have stored. So at that stage it will have cost me £180 and I will have to pay duty of about £50 on the purchase price. So all in all the wine will have cost me £240. I reckon that wine would easily be £30 a bottle in a wine merchant and perhaps nearer £40 in 5 years time (if I can buy it). Obviously the more expensive the wine the less storage charges have an impact.
Obviously you have your money tied up (not a problem at current interest rates) and if you can store it yourself you save money that way. Long term I want to have my own storage. I've now got quite a few cases stored which would last us quite a while (certainly two or three years)but I will probably keep replacing/adding when something takes my fancy. It's my intention not to buy any more wine off the shelf!
Edited by Beardy10 on Monday 10th January 22:57
brickwall said:
I generally do a 'booze cruise' to Calais every 3-6 months. Even with the pound where it is, I can generally save at least £2-3 per bottle compared to the UK price. Standard haul is 200-300 bottles and it costs me c.£150 to do the trip.
went there back in august. the kronenberg on the ferry was dirt cheap (£11.99 for 25x 500ml). far cheaper then anywhere else (even in supermarkets), but I only bought 1 box as I was concerned what the limit was through customs. anyone have an idea? Next time I'd like to bring back at least around 4-5 boxes.Matt.. said:
I am looking for alternatives to Majestic for purchasing wine online. I am not looking to spend more than ~£10/bottle, and purchase in 12 bottle quantities. Where do you get your wine from? Majestic don't have anything that inspiring at the moment, so i'm looking for other options 
Whereabouts are you?I'm in Surrey and these days mostly use local merchants who don't have websites, just knowledgeable staff.
Further afield (and online) it's Avery's of Bristol or Berry Bros.
A lot of my wine comes from my sister's in-laws in France, but locally I use Hennings in Goring and Butlers in Brighton. Great selections and some really special wines there as well. There are always great local wine sellers all over the UK, you just pay the price sometimes.
Get to France if you want to make savings. If you can take a tour around some of the regions, the caves around Bagnol are superb and La Touraine has some great varieties.
Get to France if you want to make savings. If you can take a tour around some of the regions, the caves around Bagnol are superb and La Touraine has some great varieties.
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