A €0.50 increase in excise duty on a bottle of wine means an increase of 60 cents at the till, a price increase I can live with.
However, the Irish Wine Association don’t seem to share my sentiments. According to the Irish Times,
The IWA expressed disappointment at the 25 per cent increase in excise duty on wine. It said the result of this would encourage more consumers to travel to Northern Ireland to purchase alcohol more cheaply.
No, I won’t be driving to Norn Iron to save a few cents here. Just think of my carbon footprint, never mind the unpatriotic act of adding to the Queen’s coffers!
Wine heroes
The wine industry seems to be an extremely competitive market, particularly with supermarkets are selling what is mostly mediocre stuff at below cost.
Despite this competition, through the wine tastings I’ve been to, “the wine trade” is an extremely friendly place, no more so in dedicated wine shops where there is always someone on hand to give good advice or recommend a bottle.
Ask anyone working in a wine shop for some specific advice and see their eyes light up with enthusiasm. The reason for this is probably because, for most wine retailers, wine is a passion. Of all the wine retailers in Ireland, very few are loaded. It’s true. They’re wine heroes.
According to Gabriel Cooney, over at On the Grapevine
The wine trade (as any of you who work in it will know) is not particularly profitable; it is marginal at the best of times. We didn’t make a killing during the boom times (we made a living!)
Call to action for wine lovers
So this is my call to action to those who like a tipple. Support your local wine shop. If you’re used to buying all your wine in the supermarket, buy the odd one in a wine shop. You may not end up spending extra, but you should be getting extra service.
Call to action for wine shops
There’s no question, you’re going to have to work harder at it. And no time for excuses either:
From a retail point of view, it has become more evident that alot of customers don’t appreciate the differences between a specialist wine shop and your run of the mill supermarket.
The quote above comes from a wine shop that closed earlier in the year. It sounded to me like a bit of a cop-out. It’s too fucking easy to blame the customer and external competition.
What more can you do: online
If you’re not selling online, you can still have an online presence. Start a blog with your monthly wine deals, discounts or just talk about why wine is so great.
Sure, you may not get a lot of take-up initially, but you’re in this for the long haul. It’s a great avenue for a small number of people to take notice and potentially get the word out for you – let your customers do your marketing for you. If they’re online too, then you’ve just handed them a loud speaker.
Build some buzz through an email newsletter. Sign up everyone, and I mean everyone, that comes into your shop. If that feels weird, give them a euro off in exchange for their email address.
What you can do: offline
Run regular tastings. Got a new wine in the shop? Do a leaflet drop or email newsletter campaign to get the word out. Get me into your shop. Once we’re face-to-face, you’ve got the best chance of convincing and selling to me.
Remember, you are the brand. Apart from the Yellow Tails, Wolf Blasses, Concha Y Toros at one end and the Lafites, Mouton Rothschilds etc. at the other, there are two many wines out there to be true “brands”. Even the producers and distributors know this. Why are most of the wine tastings for “trade & press”?
You are the brand.
Your shop is the one that always delivers. You always remember my name. You remember my tastes and you always suggest wines based on what I’ve bought before and challenge me to try new things. You’ve imported a groovy Grüner Veltliner, a mesmerizing Merlot or a pacey Priorat that I can’t get anywhere else.
This is a MASSIVE advantage you have over the multiples and the supermarkets, so squeeze the most you can out of it.
Privilege of choice
Over the years, I’ve been around many places in Europe and further afield. Sure, the wine is cheaper and more delicious and I always have a bit of a moan about the prices here when I get back.
But here in Ireland (and the UK) there’s a tremendous choice of wine and we’re extremely privileged to have that choice.
We have access to wine from almost every corner of the world, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Uruguay and the USA.
For all this choice, there is the higher cost. But, all in all, I think it’s a price worth paying.
Brilliant post Lar, let’s hope some of the wine shops take you up on it.
What upset me about the increase in wine duty was the fact that it was justified by the same old crap about trying to help the drink problem in Ireland, however ciders, beers and spirits faced no similar increase. It doesn’t take a genius to know that wine is not the drink of choice where there is alcoholism or underage drinking. I don’t mind the increase, but let’s at least not lie about the reason for it.
I won’t be going up North specifically to stock up on wine, but if I do happen to be up there, you can bet I’ll bring a few bottles back! :)
great post lar !
This is something that I have been telling local retailers that they need to do. But I think post budget it is something that we really need to push.
Will mention in next video blog – could we do like a tuesday push type thing – but call it visit your local wine retailer and check out the great wines and advise that they have ?
Great point Deborah, and one that has been made by Gabriel Cooney on his blog.
Frank, I’m with you on that and have a great idea bubbling away that I’m planning to work on.
“For all this choice, there is the higher cost. But, all in all, I think it’s a price worth paying.”
i completely disagree with the logic behind your thinking.
Shouldn’t a wider choice translate in lower prices?
We all know the reason behind this increase and why for example beer isn’t increased.
And do we really have that big of choice here?
the netherlands, belgium and germany are three great examples being cheap and with wines from all over the world.
Sorry but we’re not that special apart from being the most expensive!
Great post, Lar, couldn’t agree more…
Hi, I just had a customer who bought me 2 bottles of wine and told me “it will be cheaper for him to buy you wine than to go in the pub. And your wine is better than the Chardonnay fron Tesco.”
Youhou!!!! this is so good.
that make my saturday, I tell you.
That’s the kind of independent thought and comment blogs are for. It’s nearly a manifesto… Great post.
Thanks Julian & Gabriel