The pandemic has driven many people to re-access their lives and many have become wary of going out to the local pub, dining out or just doing their normal activities.

I have recently been out in a few restaurants and it is now very obvious that our industry has several massive problems on its hands. The first is that many experienced workers in the hospitality sector have become disillusioned with the pay and working hours and have sought alternative employment outside the industry. Many employers have found it extremely hard just to get any staff at all and now young and inexperienced staff have been recruited to fill the void.

However, the vast majority have had little to no training on how to offer and serve wine. They have little product knowledge and feel out of their depth when asked questions about any given wine choice. A common serving fault is for you to receive a chilled bottle of wine in a wine cooler filled with ice for instance.

The second is the rising costs of everything for employers. Its not just staff costs but the inflationary price pressures on well-nigh everything at the moment.

The third is the need to recover lost turnover from the pandemic and this has led to some sacrificing a quality offering for something cheap and charging top dollar for it. I have noticed this is happening a lot in mainstream hotel groups and national restaurant chains.

What is the answer? Robertson Wines. We offer fantastic wines at very affordable prices delivered to your door to enjoy at home.

If you really want great value for money, brilliant wines you cannot find in shops or off-licences and you don’t have to pay through the nose for quality, If you haven't already we would love for you to give us a go.

The last few months have seen unprecedented challenges facing the UK drinks industry and this is likely to continue for much of the rest of the year.

It has been well documented and reported in the media that the hospitality sector has been one of the hardest affected by lockdowns and closures. During the last 16 months, 9 months have been lost due to either full or partial lockdowns of the trade due to the COVID pandemic.

However, as we gradually get back to normal it is certainly not normal anymore, here are just a few of the current difficulties we all face:

• On-trade businesses already under severe financial pressure have lost skilled and experienced staff who have either just not returned to work or have become disillusioned and left the trade for other jobs.
• The effect of the dire shortage of drivers and transport both in the UK and in the EU has had a debilitating effect on logistics and getting product through the wholesale chain to the consumer.
• Customs and excise are struggling to process shipments quickly due to the new Brexit documentation required causing massive delays and huge backlogs of stock stuck at ports and in bonded warehouses up and down the country. 
• Dock strikes and political unrest in South America and South Africa have meant delays in consignments of certain wines reaching the UK in the normal lead times.
• The general increase in demand over the summer combined with Euro 2020 has led to shortages of certain drink products, especially beer and wine.
• Poor harvests of Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough (New Zealand) and Chablis (France) have led to restrictions in the grape yield, therefore the availability of certain wines popular in the UK. This situation will get progressively worse until the next harvests are produced which will only be available into 2022.

These and other factors have led to enormous pressures on the supply chain of wines coming into the UK at this moment in time. Thank you for your interest in our wine selection.

I have been privileged enough to have visited the Rioja region in North Central Spain several times during my career in the wine trade. It always fills me full of joy when I am about to enter the area – it is unique and slightly magical.

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I was privileged and fortunate to visit Chile at the end of February 2016 to see at first hand the natural topography that is perfect for making top quality wines. Chile is dominated by the Andes Mountains and has the benefit of cooling coastal mists rolling in from the Pacific Ocean to premium vineyard areas like Casablanca Valley. The Andes protect the vineyards from insects and pests and from the usual vine growing problems like frost and mildew. The soil or terroir here is also very important – mainly sand and gravel that drains well and keeps out the dreaded phylloxera aphid that attacks the vine roots.

In the early 1990’s, a group of Masters of Wine had visited Chile and the key wine growing areas and had returned to Europe waxing lyrical about the wonderful ripe grapes they had seen at harvest. This was only the beginning of Chile becoming one of the major quality wine-producing countries in the world.

Fast forward 25 years and all of us will probably have experienced well made, good value single varietal entry level wines from the Central Valley region but Chile is now much, much more than that!

Many young winemakers have taken the traditional winemaking skills of their forebears and added innovation in the vineyards and winery and planted new emerging grape varieties. The matching of terroir in certain areas to specific grapes has added a new dimension and quality level to Chilean wines in areas like Casablanca and Colchagua.

Click here to view our Chilean range.