Brewers on wine: Offer it all

While beer obviously comes to mind when you think of regional brewers they know what they're about with wine too, discovers Adam Withrington.As much...

While beer obviously comes to mind when you think of regional brewers they know what they're about with wine too, discovers Adam Withrington.

As much as regional brewers are defined by their cask ale output, a drinks category that most of them excel in is wine. Many, including St Austell and Fuller's, have their own wholesale operations, giving them a real opportunity to source top quality wines for their estates. Some, like Adnams, even have their own branded wines (pictured).

This kind of attention to detail pays off. Profits at Fuller's wine division were up 24 per cent this year; wine sales at Adnams are up 11 per cent year-on-year and St Austell is seeing a 20 per cent sales rise in some of its pubs as a result of this activity.

It is an area of business that has been heavily focused on by regional breweries for arguably longer than any of their pub-owning rivals. Clare Young, who recently left Young's Brewery, was working solely on the company's wine output for nearly 20 years.

Licensees can learn a great deal from these companies when it comes to their wine offer. Here are some of their top tips:

Visibility

Clare says that you have to ensure your wine offer is as visible to customers as the beer pumps on the bar.

"Selling wine is about making a powerful statement to customers," she points out. "People will not go in and ask you for the wine list. So it has to be very obvious when they come in. If wine represents 20 per cent of sales then don't just give it two per cent of visible selling space."

Range

"I'm really proud of the way I have managed to increase the range of wines in Young's pubs," says Clare. "The pubs have between 10 and 20 wines each. The secret is not about converting beer drinkers, rather it is about attracting more wine drinkers into your pub."

For some brewers, ensuring that you have a good range of wines by the glass is an essential part of the offer as many people may be put off if the only option is to order a bottle. Says Rupert Farquharson, general manager of Adnams Wines: "Having a range of wines available by the glass is very important."

Charles Wharton, wine and spirits manager at Walter Hicks, the wholesaler operation at St Austell, agrees. "We are trying to encourage a better wine offer by the glass and to help drive wine development," he says. "Essentially the most important thing is making wine more accessible."

Food matching

Rupert at Adnams believes that some wine and food matching on the menu is important. Georgina Wald, spokesperson for Fuller's, says getting staff involved in the writing of these tasting notes is a good way forward too. "Tasting notes on menus are also obviously a good idea, and encourage your staff to try all the wines, so they have a good idea for recommendations," she advises.

Introduce a business-like approach

Says Clare: "You have to take a much more business-like approach if you really want to succeed." You need a tailored programme - for example: