Well, goodbye summer (such that it was). The first of September brings with it the promise of showers, scattered and not-so-scattered. Having just returned from sunny Spain, the arrival of the UK autumn is especially brusque. For those in the UK on-trade it does, however, herald a seasonal reappraisal of wine lists. For a few brief weeks, habitually stony-faced sommeliers and bar managers may actually deign to talk to wine companies, opening the door just enough for us to try to jam a foot in.
The process of getting wines onto a restaurant or bar wine list is excruciatingly slow at the best of times and can take anything from several weeks to several years. The times of year when people will look at their wine list generally fall into the pre-winter and pre-summer slots, but the exact timings vary from venue to venue and are influenced by a seemingly infinite number of variables such as holidays (frequent) and changes of management (sometimes even more frequent). Needless to say, missing out on a semi-annual tasting will set you back another 6 or 12 months in the process.
Annoyingly, more and more establishments are also signing up to exclusivity agreements with major drinks suppliers in the belief that locking in prices for a foreseeable period makes business sense. Cutting down on paperwork seems to be all-important to some on-trade customers, meaning a small specialist supplier is disadvantaged against the drinks behemoths who can offer a one-stop shop for wines, spirits and beers. Sommeliers and bar managers have to decide whether they want an easy life or an interesting one. If they want to take the hassle-free route of locking themselves in to supplies of branded, ubiquitous wines then fine, but in doing so they are likely to be missing out on some innovative, interesting wine - not to mention, as I keep telling them, some great bargains!
