Independents are centre of debate

"How independent merchants can make the most of increased interest in their sector will be the subject of a Harpers seminar at the London International Wine Fair." The above headline is taken from Harpers on its website.

I am strongly of the view that independents are worth supporting and we should all buy a portion of our wine from them. That way we get a better and more interesting range along with decent and knowledgeable service. So here’s a plug for an independent, Hawkshead Wines. I don’t have any connections with them apart from being a highly impressed first time customer.

I came across a mention of them on the social networking site Adegga where I record my tasting notes. Their web site shows an interesting range of mixed cases many of which are priced at £55 to £75, either because they are 6 bottles of decent sounding wine or 12 bottles of interesting sounding/not readily available cheaper wines.

However I was drawn to the Chateau d’Angles case but didn’t want the unusual (wine plus maple syrup combination!) sweetie. A quick call showed Hawkshead to be flexible and pragmatic. Not only would they substitute the sweetie with a wine of my choice and adjust the price accordingly, but they would ensure I still got my 10% off introductory discount off my next order. Their discount only works on the first order as long as its for 12 bottles.

So hat’s off to Hawkshead for flexible and polished service. And the wines are pretty good so far as you can see from my tasting notes.