In this article Peter checks out the Unwins wine store chain, judges at the International Wine Challenge, recounts a heart warming story from the D-Day celebrations and tells us why the English flag is flying in the Unwins store.

For a couple of hours each evening this small Unwins branch (pictured) turns over more per square foot than Macy's in New York. It stands on Snorben's railway station bridge where homeward bound commuters freed from packed carriages pop in to buy a cheering bottle of wine, pushing a thousand pounds an hour over the counter.

Unwins is Britain's last independent wine store chain. Founded in 1843 and owned by the Wetz family since 1921 it has 388 shops and until last year was still family run. They now take a back seat, which is just as well because the new management team are changing their dull policy of only stocking major brands.

One member of my judging team at the International Wine Challenge is the buying manager for Unwins and he was excited at the thought of being able to list interesting estate wines. And he told me Unwins were about to shock the market with a revolutionary new way to sell wines, but wouldn't say more.

A short time later Unwins announced their cunning plan. They would re-brand their stores as Phillips Newman where wines would be grouped not by country, but by six taste profiles. Whites would be either 'bright', 'smooth' or 'rounded', and reds 'fruity', 'mellow' and 'chunky'. Marketing director Ian McLernon said "there is no logical reason why wine is sold by country of origin, apart from the fact that this is the way retailers and suppliers have always done it."

Neither the trade nor consumers were impressed. Similar methods have been tried before by others with resounding failure. Customers with the name of a wine gleaned from a newspaper review or previous purchase couldn't find what they were looking for. Unwins response was that they'd ask an employee, but doubters wondered why they couldn't similarly ask for a 'mellow red', and since Unwins stores are self-serve, such questioning is rather discouraged.

But this announcement was overshadowed by news that the Unwins was talking to potential buyers. There are not enough resources for the board to develop the stores the way they want to, and if they cannot raise extra investment then a new owner is the best way forward. The Wetz family are the major shareholders and they'll have the final say.

Unwins's haven't been a destination store for some years. Their range has been lacklustre, but there are signs of improvement. A sale to a company wanting Unwins choice locations, rather than to run wine stores, will be yet another nail in consumer choice.

NZ AT UNWINS
Snorbens Unwins doesn't stock a large range of New Zealand wines. The buying manager recommended four, Rossendale Sauvignon Blanc, Babich Gimblett Gravels Syrah, Lincoln Pinot Noir and St Helena Gewürztraminer, but I found none of them in stock despite several visits. Instead I tried Cloudy Bay Chardonnay 2002. It was a pale gold with an oaky nose. I found it too wooded, no doubt there was Chardonnay in the bottle but it was totally overwhelmed by oak. Not for me. 14% alcohol and Unwins sell it for £15.99.

JUDGING AT IWC
The International Wine Challenge is the UK's major wine competition. It is run by Wine International magazine who announce results to the trade at the London International Wine & Spirits Fair in May. In September & October two complete editions of the magazine are devoted to the results. Soon after shiny metallic IWC stickers appear on wines in stores, and supermarket advertisements boast about how many of the winners are on their shelves.

This year I was one of the judges. As it was my first year I was an 'associate judge', and while I judged wines, others judged my judging.

I judged on two days tasting 19 flights totalling 92 wines on Monday and 14 flights totalling 75 wines on Tuesday.

We worked in a team of 4 or 5 people under a chairman. On Monday Derek Smedley, Master of Wine and joint chairman of the IWC, chaired the group I was in. The chairman's job is to manage the team and try and gain consensus for the teams markings. But there is no chair; we all stand all day and it is quite tiring. Each team works between two tables. One table has a flight of wines wrapped in plastic with a tag with an id number. We taste that flight, write notes, discuss and come to a consensus, then turn to the second table and start on a new flight. Meanwhile the first table is being cleaned and a new flight being set up.

Each judge has a multi-part tasting sheet with space to write notes - we are encouraged write clearly as they may appear in the magazine - and places to indicate fullness/sweetness, ageability and possible faults.

Scoring is as follows:

From    To     Meaning
0      10.9    Poor
11     12.4    Mediocre
12.5   13.9    Adequate
14     15.4    Seal of Approval
15.5   16.9    Bronze Medal
17     18.4    Silver Medal
18.5   20      Gold Medal

Individually we tasted, wrote our notes and scored each wine in the flight. Then the Chairman asked us for our scores and where there were variances we re-tasted and came to a consensus.

If a wine was corked or had strange flavours we asked for another bottle. And if a wine didn't appear to match its category we asked the attentive support staff to confirm it was correctly placed - such as the red wine we found in a flight of whites.

We are not told anything about the wines, some times not even the grape varieties or vintages. The flight might be specific, like '1988 Champagne', or just Southern French Whites. Some flights had a dozen wines, some just one or two.

In the morning we started with sparkling wines, then went on to dry whites and then reds. After a brief canteen lunch we resumed with medium whites, then reds and finished with sweet wines.

You can decide when you finish, but if you don't quit the flights just keep coming until finish time at five o'clock.

I was in the preliminary judging round. Basically we were pre-sorting, doing a triage by splitting wines into those suitable for a medal, seal of approval or no award. The last two categories were tasted again the same day by a team of 'super jurors', while the medal wines went forward to the second round for judging, so we weren't making the final decision. Super jurors were experienced judges and Master of Wines.

I had a couple of flights of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and it was noticeable how fresh the screw-capped wines were. A flight which was a pleasant surprise for me was 'Spanish Grenache'; these were beautiful silky wines and made me wonder why I don't buy Spanish Grenache - something I will rectify on my next buying expedition; interesting was some Georgian Saperavi. Dull was the Australian Chardonnay. But we cast envious glances at our neighbours who worked their way through several flights of classed growth clarets.

BEST RED WINE I'VE EVER TASTED
A heart warming story came out of the recent D-Day celebrations in Normandy.

Eighty-six year old Keith Coleman, a former RAF gunner from New Zealand, got on the wrong coach after the main ceremony in Arromanches which took him to a remote military airfield. After explaining his dilemma to an official he was put in a fast car to another airfield and given a glass of what he said was "the best red wine I've ever tasted". Then a motorcade pulled up and out stepped French President Jacques Chirac. Keith saluted and Chirac invited him to board the presidential jet back to Paris where he ordered a car to take Keith to his hotel.

A small enough gesture, maybe, for a veteran who had flown more than 70 wartime missions over occupied Europe but how many world leaders would have done the same in these days of overwhelming security?

And no, there's no record of what wine was poured, but its odds on to have been French.

FLAGS
The English flag in Unwins window isn't to celebrate the recent English Wine week, but football's Euro2004. Until recently few people here knew the Cross of St George was the flag of England but there's been an explosion of them for Euro2004. Some entrepreneur has been selling small flags on short plastic masts which affix to the top of car windows and it's calculated that one in ten cars are flying them. And wind tunnel test show that at 60mph the extra drag caused by flying two flags uses four brake horse power, 2 percent in engine efficiency.

If you have been, thanks for reading

© Peter May
21 June 2004

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