I wasn't going to write about Safeway yet, but I might be unable to, later. For a supermarket they have an interesting and eclectic selection of wines, however currently New Zealand is poorly represented.

In January the small family owned Morrison supermarket company made a £2.5 billion bid for Safeway. Morrison stores are mostly in the north of Britain, Safeway's in the south. If the sale goes through Morrison's will triple their sales and stores and be able to go head-to-head as third to market leaders Tesco & Sainsbury. Almost immediately Asda-Walmart made a counter bid, followed by Tesco and Sainsbury.

Whichever of these gets Safeway, it will mean less choice for the consumer and loss of another outlet for wineries.

Wine lovers in the UK are already reeling from decision by high street wine store chain Oddbins to remove 800 lines from their shelves following their take-over by the French company that owns the dismal Nicolas shops. And Wine Rack, Wine Cellar and the hundred-year-old Victoria Wine chain's names have all vanished in the past year to be re-branded as Threshers. I was talking to the marketing manager of a medium sized winery whose wines no longer appear on Threshers shelves. Threshers buyer told them he wants to reduce the number of agents he has to see.

Safeway has Villa Maria Private Bin Chardonnay (£6.99) and Sauvignon Blanc(£7.99), Nobilo White Cloud (£4.99), Montana Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc(both £5.99), Cabernet/Merlot (£6.99) and Renwick Estate 1998 Chardonnay (£10.99)

The UK Safeway has no connection with the US chain of the same name.

NOT CHEAP
New Zealand wine has the highest average price in the UK, at £5.80. The average prices of all wines is £3.86. Whose is the cheapest? Portugal, whose wines average £3.28 - reported in The Sunday Times.

CENTRAL OTAGO
Central Otago's Pinot Noir smites the Daily Telegraph's Andrew Catchpole. It is "set to give Burgundy a run for its money and I'd urge you to splash out." In his 22 February column he meets Duncan Forsyth and Greg Hay of Peregrine Vineyards, Rob Hay of Chard Farm, Blair Walter of Felton Road and Nick Mills of Rippon. Andrew is taken with Central Otago's similarity to Burgundy's terrain, impressed with its reliability in delivering quality wines year after year and with the young Kiwi winemakers out to make their names there.

Andrews selects 2001 Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir (£16.95) as his ' Wine of the Week' - "Bags of Central Otago character are packed into this superb wine. Expect a whiff of powerful fruit and nuances of mulberry and plums, wrapped in peppery tannins."

Also recommended are 2001 Peregrine Pinot Noir (£12.99) - "layers of herbal, chocolately complexity," 2001 Felton Road Pinot Noir (£18.99) - "beautifully crafted wine, perfumed and ripe", and 2000 Rippon Pinot Noir (£17.75) - "crispy bacon, dark plum and damson fruit … intensely ripe Pinot flavour".

You can read the article at www.telegraph.co.uk ; you'll have to register.

The title 'The magical taste of Middle Earth' shows the bylaw that every article about New Zealand must refer to LotR is still in force.

If you have been, thanks for reading.

© Peter May
1 March 2003

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