By Simon Taylor, Stroud Wine Company
The very beginning of the year is traditionally a quieter time for wine merchants in general (goodbye ‘Dry January!’, it’s been real.) but is still a busy time for us in other ways as we begin to plan our upcoming tastings schedule and seek out delicious new wines for you to enjoy.
We are often asked ‘how do you select your wines?’ and the answer is very simple; ‘carefully’. One of the best advantages a business like us has over supermarkets or chain wine shops is we get to taste the wine before we decide whether or not to sell it. I know, I know, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. If we don’t like it, we don’t sell it.
Traditionally, the winter into spring season is when many of our suppliers host tastings of their entire portfolio of wines and invite us merchants to pop along to rather posh locations in London or Bristol to try them.
It can be a little overwhelming for the uninitiated; a room full of free wine – sometimes hundreds – and only a few short hours with them before the train beckons us back home. We will always research the wines first before we arrive, then formulate a plan of which we want to taste; from old classics such as Bordeaux or Rioja, to discovering new wines from smaller less represented countries or regions. We are always open to suggestions from our suppliers to try new things they are passionate about that we may not have considered.
One of the best aspects of these events is that often the winemakers have been brought over so they can talk through their wines for a much more personal tasting. We love to be able to put a face to the bottle, to understand their ethos and to allow their passion to rub off on us and for us to impart that to you.
But why should we have all the fun? We’ve also been busy arranging a whole host of public tastings throughout this year that will feature a lot of our new acquisitions. So check out our ‘Tastings and Events‘ section on our website (stroudwine.com) that is being regularly updated with exciting new events at both our stores. So do join us at some – or all! – of our tastings to tell us what you think of our wines. We can’t wait to host you!
Click HERE to find out more about The Stroud Wine Company
VISIT OUR WITHEYS YARD SHOP
5 Witheys Yard,
55 High Street,
Stroud,
Gloucestershire
GL5 1AS
VISIT OUR GRIFFIN MILL SHOP
Unit 4,
Griffin Mill,
London Rd.
Stroud,
GL5 2AZ
