Oddbins likely descent into administration marks a dark day for UK wine retailing, not just because of the millions of pounds owed to suppliers, which is a bitter enough pill to swallow, but because they used be a shining beacon of verve, imagination and flair which has now disappeared from our high streets – seemingly for good.
Like many of my contemporaries I cut my teeth in the wine trade working for Oddbins and learned a great deal very rapidly. In the late 1980’s I’d graduated from University with an impressively large overdraft and through the testimony of a friend was taken on as a temporary van driver, at the George Street shop in Marylebone, as a stop gap until I could secure a ‘proper’ job.  The problem was I just loved working there and didn’t really want a proper job. Fortunately, my lamentable driving skills soon saw me transferred to the shop floor and here I was in my element. I was carefully schooled by a bunch of wine-loving, academic drop outs in the rudiments of wine tasting, customer care, balancing the books on the dreaded ‘Weekly Trading Return’ and low-budget marketing. Who can forget those blackboards? ‘Last Stop for the Betty Ford clinic’ didn’t go down well with head office but they loved ‘Our Delicious Drinks Bring Immense Natural Satisfaction’.

True, the pay was pretty poor and the hours were long but there were many upsides. You could wear what the hell you wanted to work, you could play Clash albums (loudly) and spend the day chatting to hugely knowledgeable colleagues and customers and sample lots of interesting wines. I vividly recall sitting round in the shop after closing hours sampling my first, earth-moving taste of Krug with a take away pizza and thinking I’d found my calling.
One day the manager sent me to do the banking and when I came back I told him we were £20 ‘over’ the sum we’d declared. ‘I know’ he replied with a knowing smile. You can’t teach stuff like that – it has to be learned in situ.
Having paid my dues I passed slowly through the ranks and ended up managing the Islington Green shop on Upper Street N1 in the early 1990’s. Those were happy days. We had a great team in the form of Helen the deputy manager, who could handle all the paperwork I couldn’t fathom, and Gilbert, the Australian senior sales assistant who had a fine line in deadpan humour. A busy executive once asked him if he could give him a quote for a Christmas party, to which he replied: “Sure – I hope this goes better than last year.”
The point is we all enjoyed working there and the clientele appreciated that – there was a terrific rapport between the shop staff and the customers that was rare and special and I think we all knew that.
Eventually the long hours, modest remuneration and hideous 14 hour monthly stock counts took their toll and I decamped to try my luck harvesting grapes in Provence but to this day I owe Oddbins a great deal – they provided inspiration and proved selling wine could be great fun and I’ll always be grateful for that.

(This blog is re-published from the website of our friends Claud The Butler – www.claudthebutler.co.uk)

There is a little corner of Wiltshire that will be forever France…

Claud is beside himself with excitement at the prospect of a whole day spent in the Yapp Brother’s yard in Mere alongside his buddy, the Yapp blue Citroen H delivery van and his close cousin, the very distinguished Citroen ‘Traction Avant’. And we’re feeling the excitement too as we set up in the courtyard of this award-winning and deliciously ‘under-the-radar’ wine merchants and prepare for a day serving coffee and cake to discerning oenophiles. The eagerly awaited Yapp Brothers ‘Bin End Wines’ Sale is underway, early risers make their way across the courtyard to the ‘tasting’ room, choices are made. No wonder coffee seemed like a good idea.

Jason Yapp is busy co-ordinating a small, dedicated band of staff, but finds time to drop by to shoot the breeze and fill us in on a little of the history of the place. The fountain full of aquamarine water to the right of Claud is a replica of the original at Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône, and the grotto to his left is a hang-over from brewery days. Beer was kept cool in the grotto – until the family of brewers fell under the influence of the Temperance movement and turned their attentions to skimmed milk production. Jason’s father, Yapp père, has stopped by for coffee too, and sits in the morning sunshine in Claud’s café as if it were a regular feature of his Saturday mornings. Jason shows us black and white photo boards of the dilapidated state of the buildings when his father first bought them, way back in the late sixties. Today they nestle side-by-side, resplendent in the colours of Southern France, all blues, turquoises and yellows. Hard to imagine we’re in Wiltshire on the warmest day of the year so far.

Today ‘Team Claud’ is joined by guest member, George, taking time out from his high-flying London legal career to don an apron and help his mum with her new venture. It’s a family affair. The smell of coffee beans fills the air and visitors to Claud delicately negotiate their way through a menu of lattes, espressos, cappuccinos and flat whites. Together with side orders of home-made cake, and, for that true taste of ‘la belle france’, little madeleines fresh from our Willow Vale oven. Tom ‘Yapp’ takes a break to talk cycling with Lee. Turns out they had both climbed Mont Ventoux in the ferocious heat of Le Tour d’Etape, an amateur stage of the Tour de France, two years back.

Customers sit in the spring sunshine, tasting notes in hand, before returning to the inner sanctum that is Yapp Brother’s tasting room. I have my own ‘sale list’ to hand and take the opportunity to conduct a random ‘straw poll’ of what is drinking well today. An Alsace: Pinot Blanc 2005 comes in for special mention, and a heady rose, Bellet: Domaine de la Source Rosé 2009, is talked about with something approaching reverence. A ‘reds’ man who sounded authoritative spoke of the intense aroma of the Saint Joseph:Domaine Georges Vernay 2008 and in hushed tones of the wonders of Cornas: Cuvee Renaissance 2007. Unscientific, maybe, but those are my tips for the day, and I offer them purely on the basis of being an enthusiastic amateur with an ear to the ground.

As the sun sets over the fountain the last of the bin-enders stagger out of the Yapp Brother’s cellars clutching boxes of fine wines and head for home. We send out a last-minute plate of brownies to staff and are delighted when Tom returns the compliment with an elegant glass of deep red dessert wine that verges on ambrosial. ‘It goes with chocolate,’ he explains. Oh yes it does…

I decide that French wine, sunshine, good company, coffee and cake make for a very fine day out indeed. A votre santé!

Being an inveterate fan of Citroën’s marvellous ‘cube utile’, or H-van, as well as a discerning coffee consumer I was chuffed to be invited to the launch of  ‘Claud the Butler’(www.claudthebutler.co.uk) in my home town of Frome last weekend. Claud is the brainchild of Lee and Helen who are the next door neighbours of my friend the artist Chris Bucklow (www.chrisbucklow.com) and his family who offered up their well-appointed riverside garden for the occasion.

Claud has been lovingly kitted out to dispense coffee and cakes and (as my sons appreciated) hot chocolate. Lee and Helen designed Claud’s distinctive livery and elegant interior and he had a mechanical overhaul by H-van specialists ‘Le Cube Utile’ (www.hvan.co.uk) who also worked on a van for Rapha (www.rapha.co.uk) purveyors of the finest cycling apparel (and imbibers of Yapp wines – I digress).

I wasn’t disappointed. The sun shone. The coffee and cakes were delicious. Lee and Helen buttled busily and Claud looked terrific. He is a late model, made in 1980, so a year younger than our 1979 version. Apparently ’79 was the last year H-vans were made commercially, other than for the Army so the chances are that Claud did his Service Nationale – although I am now bound to receive an e-mail from an aficionado who knows otherwise.

Claud and Co. are going to be visiting cycling events, parties and festivals in the near future and we have managed to persuade them to come to our Bin End Wines sale next Saturday 26th March so do come and check him out. Wine, coffee, cake and tyre-kicking of the first order – it has the makings of a great day out!

The start of our trade event season for 2011 began this week with our hosting a stand at The Specialist Importers Trade Tasting event (SITT) 2011 in Manchester (Monday) and London (Wednesday). We have worked at this event for the past couple of years and watched it grow into an already much talked about interesting show for the smaller, specialist merchants in the UK wine trade.

The SITT acronym is an ironic one as a long day is spent on one’s feet tasting, chatting and advising a steady flow of guests including Sommeliers, Journalists, fellow wine merchants and consultants. There was certainly precious little time to sit!

Michael and Tom attended the Manchester event, which as a rule is a little quieter than the London one. Tom the hot footed it back to help Jason and I look after things in London at Vinopolis in the historic Borough market near London Bridge.

We always try to keep our wine selection fairly small and snappy, but equally try to reflect as much of our varied and wide-ranging portfolio as possible. This tasting provided a good opportunity to look at some of our 2009 vintages that are going to be firmly at the forefront of our 2011 list. The white wines were all particularly well received on the day (which may partly reflect the ambient temperature of a packed hall)!

I thought that our Condrieu Terroirs 2009 (100% Viognier) from Francis Merlin was an excellent wine; good body, with lots of that AC typical minerality that makes Viognier from this area so interesting and different. One of the comments from a journalist who tasted it on the day was that it was refreshing to try a Condrieu that actually tasted like Condrieu is meant to, which is something very different from Viognier found elsewhere in the wine world. A third of the assemblage is put into oak and this helps carry the complex flavours through to a long and satisfying finish. This is a great early showing for the 2009 Rhône that we have been telling you about for the past couple of months.

Domaine Saparale Vin de Corse Sartène Rosé 2009 (Nielluccio, Sciacarello and Vermentino) is a stand out rosé wine. From sun-blessed Corsica, it has a lovely pale Salmon colour with lots of mouth-filling summer fruit flavours as well as crisp, slightly savoury tinge. This is Spring/Summer drinking out on the terrace with a salad or some seafood.

All of the reds that we had on show are firm favourites of mine and I am really pleased that our Pascal Frères Gigondas 1999 was well received by people on the day. Gigondas is generally a younger, more rustic cousin to the refined, maturity of good Châteauneuf du Pape and it is not often that you can find it available with any decent age. We are fortunate to have a long standing working relationship with Yves Cheron and he continually delights with his late release of these great value wines. Don’t get me wrong, this Gigondas does not have the rich complexity of good Châteauneuf, but to be fair it also does not have the price tag! Beautiful autumnal flavours expand on the palate, the rusticity of youth has been mellowed with age into a smooth, warming wine. Plenty of classic cigar box aromas and long finish, make this a wine for slow, relaxed contemplation. A great value wine in my opinion.

Overall, it was another successful event, lots of interesting wines on show and a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and new. When the doors finally closed after a busy day dispensing wine, we continued the long standing wine trade tradition and swapped the grape for the grain with a quick refreshing beer from the nearest market tavern, albeit though, still no seat to be had.

Crémant de Limoux Brut

Working at Yapp HQ has always been an interesting experience and there’s never a shortage of recommendations about new vintages, new wines and particularly new food and wine pairings. As a man who came from the cider and cheese school of thought it’s been a real eye opener – not that cider doesn’t go with cheese but it’s the ‘chip butty’ of the food and wine matching world – good and basic but not all there is too it. So, proof of the pudding and all that – last Saturday I put my absorbed knowledge to the test. Some long-standing friends and their off spring assembled (Alex, the 5 year old had been so excited by the idea of a “sleep over” he’d packed his bag at 5.30am on the Saturday morning – I think the enjoyment of food and wine comes with a little more age and he was more excited about using his spider man “ready bed” in anger, but I digress).

Vin de Corse Sartène Rosé: Domaine Saparale 2009

The aperitif was triggered at the same time as we started getting all the small folk to bed – this may have been a slight error of judgement but we started with a favourite fizz – Crémant de Limoux Brut Cuvée Selection with a dash of Crème de Pêches – an ideal aperitif and as (from what I remember) Michel Roux Jr. once said was ‘great, as it made you really want to eat’ (this was at least the gist of the quote, and maybe not verbatim).

I was on the starter – being a disciple of all things Slater (Nigel, not the one from East Enders) I decided to keep it simple – pan fried scallops, fresh ginger, some lemon chilli flakes (from Austria of all places) and a watercress salad – it would have been churlish not to match this with the Yapp Corsican Rosé (Vin de Corse Sartène Rosé: Domaine Saparale 2009).

Irouléguy: Domaine Illaria 2007

The main dish was provided by Donna – I thought she’d arrive with something cooked but no, it arrived in raw form – she insisted that it had to be made there and then. I’d asked advice on this one  in advance – what to have with Basque Chicken? Our resident food and wine expert had a flash of inspiration on her drive home – have a Basque wine! Not rocket science maybe but the Irouléguy: Domaine Illaria 2007 was spot on and not a wine I’d tried before and a great hit around the table.

Muscat de Beaumes de Venise - Domaine de Durban

So, into the home straight with combinations I knew would be great but it was terrific to see the responses from our guests – when this goes right, it really is an eye opener. Raspberry brûlée with Muscat de Beaumes de Venise: Domaine de Durban 2007 then a selection of powerful blue cheeses with Jurançon 2008: Domaine Bellegarde then following the digestif of Bas Armagnac 1988 our guests retired sated, content and with smiles on their faces.

Jurançon 2008: Domaine Bellegarde

My daughter fell out of bed at 4.30am on Sunday morning that, like dominoes, woke up the other 3 children under the age of 6 but once again I think that may well be another story…

It is interesting how authors, actors, artists and musicians can arrive on the scene by breaking barriers and pushing people out of their comfort zone one day and then, in what seems like no time at all, they are perceived as National Treasures who are fondly regarded by one and all. What challenges the established order one day can soon become part of it if people relate to what they are doing or saying, and it changes the received mindset. This can happen with wine makers too – where some bold optimist blazes a trail others follow and it soon becomes a well-trodden path.

Bruno Ribière & Dennis Ferrer keeping it real in the Roussillon.

When disillusioned fonctionnaire Bruno Ribière and questing young co-operateur Dennis Ferrer first collaborated back in 1993 they had to borrow every bean they could muster in order to establish their modest 4 hectare vine-holdings, but they had bags of attitude and the supreme confidence of those with no reputation to lose. They were working in the then deeply unfashionable ‘badlands’ of the Roussillon just south-west of Perpignan, with tiny parcels of anachronistic grape varieties and a hippy-ish non-interventionist outlook and penchant for following the lunar calendar. Most of the locals regarded them (at best) as ill-informed eccentrics who wouldn’t go the distance. Today, 18 years later, with 44 hectares under vine, Bruno and Dennis enjoy an international reputation for their highly characterful wines that are totally in-keeping with the 21st century zeitgeist for crafting more natural wines from traditional grape varieties. They are living proof that you should follow your dreams and not the herd, and although it is very gratifying to see them garner plaudits they’re still more concerned about what going on in the vineyard and cellar than how their wines are received by the media.

The highly idiosyncratic Ferrer-Ribière, Vin de Pays Catalan: Grenache Blanc is a wine that would chill the blood of most commercial wine buyers as it is deliberately oxidative with wonderful sherry-like scents and tastes underscored by a mineral-edged acidity. Unsurprisingly, it works well with Catalonian cuisine – olives, anchovies, peppers and home-cured saussicon sec spring to mind. A sibling Carignan, which hails from vines that are over 130 years-old, has an enticing bouquet of black berries and cherries and a juicy palate infused with garrigue fruit flavours. The duo also produce 2 different cuvées of Côtes de Roussillon: The ‘Tradition’, which is made from a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan, is a versatile, supple, mid-weight red with a couch of dark, plummy fruit and spicy undertones. Dennis and Bruno’s flagship ‘Cuvée Cana’, made from Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, merits at least 3 years bottle-age to reveal its uncompromising personality. It has diverse spice, leather and sous-bois aromas and a complex palate of berries, mushrooms, game and earth. It is a wine of the soil, a wine of passion and a wine that you will never ever find as a ‘BOGOF’ on the galley end of a supermarket shelf.