(Header image credit: Specialist Cellars)

Getting wine to customers at Christmas is normally a bit like pushing at an open door: it couldn’t be any easier. Of course, this year is not like others, and many of the usual routes - restaurants, pubs, bars - may or may not be operating. At the moment it’s not clear what restrictions will be in place come the Festive period, but the mood music is not encouraging, even when it comes to Christmas celebrations in family homes.   

“We want people to live and have Christmas as close as possible to normal. It’s a really important family time, we understand that … The prime minister said he wants us to be able to enjoy Christmas and for families to be able to come together,” George Eustice, the environment secretary, said recently.  “It’s too early to say though exactly what restrictions will be in place by Christmas and obviously if we do need to have restrictions in place and prevent families from coming together in large gatherings, if that’s necessary to control the virus, that’s what we’ll have to do.”

The classical Christmas blow-out, then, could be a bit different this year. No grannies and aunts and cousins, but there will still be celebrations. People will still want to drink wine and, more than likely, more of it than normal. But which are the best wines to get your wine into their glasses? 

Focus on home drinking

This is an obvious one, but probably the key. Customers are far more likely to be drinking your wine at home than in a licensed premises. What does that mean? That they’ll be buying it online, or perhaps in person at a supermarket or bottle shop. Your wine has to look good, contain relevant information (in English - it’s amazing how much wine available in the UK is presented entirely in French), and stand out from the rest. It has to be something that buyers can imagine guzzling with all that rich Christmas food - although more people will be having a Vegan Christmas than ever before, so think about them, too. Wine that looks like it could be part of a memorable celebration is going to fly off the shelves. 

One great way to entice Xmas purchases is by making Christmas a big thing on your own website. Specialist Cellars, one of the smartest operators in the game, specialising in wines from New Zealand and Australia, has a Christmas shop on their website, offering gift vouchers, mixed cases, magnums and suggested matches for classic Christmas dishes.

(Image credit: Specialist Cellars)

Pick the right distributor for you

There are lots of distributors in this country, offering different things to different outlets, and with contacts up and down the UK. Unless you’re very small, you’re going to have to work with them. The key questions are: what do you have to offer, and which distributor suits you best? Les Caves de Pyrene, for example, is known for offering natural wines - probably not the right place if you’re offering a punchy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Liberty Wines believes in clarity of flavour and drinkability; mainstream but top-notch. Matthew Clark has a huge selection, selling to outlets across the country. You need to decide how you want to be perceived and where you fit.

Be Presentable

In a packed market, you can’t afford to look dowdy. Who’s going to pick up a bottle that’s boring, or that looks like thousands of others? Spanish producers seem to have taken up the cudgel of making their bottles look interesting, fun and potentially delicious - see Salvaje del Moncayo’s Garnacha, for example, or Vina Zorzal Corral de Altos Garnacha Navarra. Both labels are beautiful, suggesting what’s inside is going to be good too (and it is).

Another key element is to speak to consumers in a language they understand. It’s all very well talking about skin contact white wines and qvevris if you’re planning to sell to the cognoscenti, but this stuff is likely to be a turn-off for most supermarket punters. 

(Image credit: Specialist Cellars)

The price is right

It’s a weird time. For a lot of people, there’s less money around than ever, meaning they’ll be searching for value in everything they buy - but for other, more affluent customers, who haven’t spent on holidays and restaurant trips this year, money will be no object this Christmas. There’ll be plenty of competition; If you’re in the sparkling wine category, you can expect to see some significant cost-cutting when it comes to Champagne, sales of which are down this year. In the end, the key is to remain affordable without cheapening your product. 

Provide extras

What else can you offer? There’s not much room on the back of a bottle of wine, but modern technology allows producers to direct inquisitive customers to their website, where you can really tell your story, or offer a virtual sommelier experience, or sell more wine. There are different ways of doing this: Matt Morris Wines, based in the Napa Valley, tells a great story about a forgotten grape and his desire to bring it back to the prominence it once had; Austrian winemaker Hannes Reeh’s website is a design masterclass, that will inevitably appeal to more style-conscious consumers. The key is not to copy, but to find an approach that reflects what you’re doing in a way that is appealing to the market you’re targeting.

About The Author:

The article is contributed by Will Hawkes. He is a freelance journalist specialising in beer and travel. He is an author of Craft Beer London, a guide to the city's burgeoning beer culture, and a regular contributor to a host of publications including The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and Beer Advocate.