William Lyons Uncorked

THE World of Wine

Wine bucks the financial trend

The shake out from the financial hurricane that is ripping through the heart of Wall Street and The Mound is yet to be felt in the wallets of Britain's wine drinkers. Perversely as inflation in consumer goods and energy costs soars (despite the Government's insistence that it is hovering around the 4% mark most economists I speak to judge it anywhere between 15% and 20%) wine appears to be suffering deflation.

For the first time in nearly a decade the supermarkets will use wine as a loss leader this Christmas and I know of at least one major multiple buyer who is planning an aggressive discounting offer in November that will promote drinkable, decent wine at £2.99 a bottle. Of course this is not exclusive to wine. Beck's, the gassy German lager, is presently being sold at Sainsbury's at £6.99 for a case of 20 bottles. That's nearly less than 35p a bottle or 70p a pint. This at a time when the price of a pint of beer in pubs and bars is rising to £4.

The trend seems to be filtering through to restaurants. With entertaining, marketing and client schmoozing budgets about to be slashed eating out will be hit hard. According to one wine importer I spoke to recently, the amount of restaurants that have slashed the mark-up on their wines to £10 a bottle, instead of nearly 50% margins, has risen dramatically in the last few weeks. Credit crunch restaurants, where one can enjoy a decent meal without topping £100 for two, will thrive in this environment. Calistoga (70 Rose St. Lane North, Edinburgh EH2 3DX Telephone - 0131 225 1233) is a case in point.

It's owner Gordon Minnis has a mark up of just £5 on every bottle of wine - I'm heard his two Edinburgh restaurants are packed.

Death of a legend

I was very sad to hear of the unexpected death of one of France's most cherished and original wine makers. Didier Dagueneau, 52, produced Pouilly-Fumés, made from sauvignon blanc, of exceptional purity and subtlety. With his dreadlocks, long heavy beard and mischievous, outspoken manner in many ways he defined a region. Before Dagueneau the Loire was seen a producer of thirst quenching sauvignons. His slavery to perfection, high prices and complex wines showed the world that his wines could be taken seriously and could age with the best of them. He died when the microlight plane he was piloting crashed after takeoff in the Dordogne region of France. He and his wines will be sorely missed.

A Majestic deal

Majestic have a few interesting deals this week. It's selling Argento Malbec 2007 Mendoza for £5.99 down to £5.05 but as it 's running another offer of a 25% discount for any two Argentinian wines it works out at £3.79.

It also has two superb wines worth seeking out. Its Boschendal Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Coastal Region £7.99 is down to £5.99 when you buy two or more. While Vergelegen Mill Race Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2005 Stellenbosch is down from £8.99 to £6.95, which is an incredible offer.

William Lyons

Louis Roederer Regional Wine Writer of the year 2008

Short Listed Louis Roederer Regional Wine Writer of the year 2007

Runner Up Glenfiddich Wine Writer of the year 2006