Sue Courtney, with the incisive insight that makes WineoftheWeek.com so compelling, spotted it immediately. "You are English and you are in England", she said, which I couldn't deny. "Why don't you tell us about your experience of NZ wine, how easy it is to find, who stocks it, how it's marketed, how it's perceived. In other words, your peculiarly (what does she mean?) English view of New Zealand's wine.

So this is the first of a series of reports from Snorbens as I look at NZ wine in the UK.

Firstly I had better tell you about where I live. You won't find Snorbens on any map. It's a small city north west of London at what was the highest navigable point on the river Ver that eventually joins the Thames. The Romans brought their ships to provision the city of Verulamium with olive oil and wines. After the legions left a monastery grew around the shrine to Alban, the first British Christian martyr and the city gained its modern name of Saint Albans. Roman ruins and relics are everywhere and we have a fine medieval city centre with a street market held continuously for a thousand years.

We have a vineyard - well its actually half a dozen spindly vines presented by our German twin town, planted in the monastery walled garden with ceremony and ever afterwards forgotten about.

St Albans - or Snorbens as we locals pronounce it - is easy commuting distance of central London (easy means standing in packed trains if you're lucky and the trains have not been cancelled). So the citizens of our fine city, after spending their day at work need, nay deserve a drink in the evening. As a result of being the first nights stop for stagecoaches from London, and supplying sustenance to pilgrims to the monastery there are an abundance of pubs, more per area than anywhere else in England, and a goodly amount of wine outlets.

There has been fierce competition in alcohol sales in the UK over the past decade, with few individual shops able to compete with the huge supermarket chains that now supply 80% of all wine sold in the UK. We have Sainsbury, Tesco, Waitrose and Safeways supermakets.

Snorbens used to have a wine shop specialising in Spanish wines and another in American wines. Both now no more. All our wine stores are branches of national chains and include Oddbins, Majestic, Unwins, Victoria Wine and Bottoms Up.

Other ways to purchase wine are by mail order from The Sunday Times Wine Club, The Wine Society and similar, or internet only operations such as Virgin Wines and Everywine.

Then there are small operators such as nearby based Flagship Wines who specialise in New Zealand and showcase their wines with tastings.

And central London with its specialist wine shops is a thirty minute train ride away.

Another option is to drive to France and buy wine minus UK wine taxes. You might laugh, but I can be in Calais in less than three hours from Snorbens. Oddbins, Sainsbury and Tesco all have stores there, plus many wine warehouses selling wine from all over the world to UK consumers.

Let's finish this first report with a detailed look at Oddbins.

Its small shop in Snorbens high street is about 20 minutes walk from my home. Oddbins, while owned for the past few years by major corporations, has been allowed to continue to act much as it did before. That means an interesting and specialist list, with buyers who hunt out good wines at good prices. Oddbins spearheaded acceptance of Australian wines into Britain in the 80's, but others aren't picking up their current focus on Greek wines with the same alacrity.

Inside the store has rough wooden floorboards with racks on the walls and piles of boxes down the middle. Cards written by the store staff feature their recommendations with personal notes and Oddbins staff are enthusiastic. (However if they don't like a wine they may choose not to stock it).

So what are Oddbins in Snorbens recommending? That's the question I asked today.

"What price range are you thinking?" the assistant replied.

"Tell me what you recommend as the best red and white NZ wine at any price," I insisted.

"Matariki Quintology - it's a mixture of varieties with a lovely rich red-currant flavour - like summer fruits gently stewing."

"Um, sounds good. What varieties are in it?" I asked

"Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon.." his voice trailed off as he reached for a bottle from the top shelf.

"It's a bordeaux blend?" I queried.

"No, its got other varieties - five I think (from the name) - but," he peered at the back label, "it doesn't list them here."

"Have you tasted it?" I asked. "Oh, yes, its scrumptious."

"And what white do you recommend?"

"Montana Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc - its really great, fresh clean flavours," he replied.

"How much do they cost?"

"£12.99 and £10.99."

"You seem to have picked two of the most expensive wines. Are they really the best?" I asked.

"Well, you get what you pay for, but this one," and he picked up a bottle of Selaks Sauvignon Blanc" at £7.49 is a great example, and Wither Hills is excellent."

We talked about Sauvignon Blanc, and he recommended alternatives from Australia and South Africa. I then asked whether they had any Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc. (they had the Villa Maria Chardonnay in stock). He said they had had a small amount of Clifford Bay that had sold out in less than two weeks and Oddbins were currently waiting for a large shipment from New Zealand, which seemed to be taking ages to arrive. He expected he'd get some more Villa Maria Clifford Bay and he suggested I look out for Peregrine Pinot Noir (Otago £12.99) which he rated as awesome.

Oddbins' currently list forty-two New Zealand wines, with 15 Sauvignon Blancs priced from £6.49 (Montana 2001 Marlborough) to £10.99 (Villa Maria Clifford Bay 2001 & Montana Brancott Estate 2000 both from Marlborough).

There are 14 Chardonnays, priced from £5.99 (Montana 2000 Marlborough) to £13.99 (Martinborough 2000 & Villa Maria Fletcher 2000 Marlborough).

There are 2 Rieslings from Montana and Villa Maria at £7.99 and £8.49.

The 11 reds start with Montana Cabernet Merlot 2000 Hawkes Bay/ Marlborough at £6.99, and work up through various combinations of the bordeaux varieties. The top price slots are filled by Pinot Noir with Martinborough PN 2000 the most expensive at £18.49.

However some wines are in short supply and were out of stock in Snorbens. But I felt I got good recommendations from the assistant who had tasted the wines and spoke with enthusiasm. If you're looking for New Zealand wines, then Oddbins is a good place to go.

Oddbins has some 230 branches in the UK, eight fine wine stores stocking small parcels of fine wines, plus five branches in Dublin, Ireland and one in Calais, France. You can view their list online at www.oddbins.co.uk.

© Peter May
22 June 2002