It’s tough, being a travelling wine buyer. But … buying wine without first visiting just didn't work for me. Still doesn't.
"Ah … you'll be the bloke who likes to stick his nose into everything" became our reputation. Also, "the people who interfere" and other, ruder expressions. And that was in the days before we went so far as to put our own winemakers in.
Germany: it was Hugh Johnson got me started there, taking me round all the famous cellars. We used to sell a lot of German wine. Then, suddenly, no-one wanted it. I hope that never happens with claret!
Austria: I don't remember his name but a lovely guy from the wine promotion people took me all over. I particularly liked all the little 'Heurige' wineries in the Vienna suburbs. There you sat with customers out from the city, on benches in the winery enjoying roast meats washed down with the new wines drawn straight from the barrel. These guys never had to bother bottling the stuff. They started pouring when it was half-fermented and milky-white, and were often out of wine by Christmas. Great business! Austria is another country that suddenly 'lost it'. Just as I'd shipped a massive order! Beautiful wines - no glycol at all - but took us years to sell!
California: again, it was Hugh Johnson who took me and a dozen customers on an unforgettable tour round the nascent wine industry. Mondavi, Heitz, Gallo - met all the great men in their prime. The wineries, the sheer exuberance and imagination, that energy and entrepreneurship - stoked my fires (which were running a bit low due to the UK, 3-day weeks, etc).
New Zealand: thanks to their Government, I and Colin Anderson, buyer for Grants of St James, got a free trip to Kiwi land and an escorted tour by air around every wine district. The finale was a great barbecue with just about every wine producer in the land … not all that many because the Marlborough Sauvignon global success had not yet taken off.
But it was about to - all the elements were in place … and a mad Ulsterman called Ernie Hunter lit the fuse.
He brought his Sauvignon to our Sunday Times Vintage Festival in London and won 'Wine of the Show'. He won it overwhelmingly. He won it every year he came over. Every time. It was a wine with a volume of flavour no-one had ever experienced before. Though it was also true that Ernie himself had a volume of persuasiveness I've never known before or since.
Jane Hunter, OBE (she carried Ernie's work to great heights after his untimely death) tells everyone that show result - broadcast very loudly by Ernie - was when New Zealand wine suddenly hit the world stage.
Australia: bit naughty but on that free trip I did excuse myself for a couple of days and shot over to Oz. I had a mate there, David Thomas (who I was helping to start his business; Cellarmasters. Not perhaps my smartest move ever; helping set up our biggest rival!) and he flew me up the Hunter Valley for a whistle-stop tour. First winery I went in there's this cry from the top of a tank: "Tony, you old bastard! What you doing here?" I'd only ever met one Aussie winemaker - working in Bordeaux - and there he was … working for a Barossa outfit in a Hunter Valley winery.
That got me thinking … So, you can move winemakers around, can you? And work in other peoples wineries, can you?
New idea!
It must have been at this point - mid eighties - that Australia took over from France as my main teacher in wine. Been pretty much that way ever since.
Chile, South Africa and Argentina was roughly the remaining order, I think.
Expensive travel, but it seemed to be necessary that I actually go to each place for the wines to sell well.
You do whatever seems to work!
I travelled between one and two weeks a month depending on the season.
It was all very well swanning around; the hard part was still selling it. But the customers - Wine Club Members mostly - were up for it! I do so love them all!
Millions of words. Tons of literature! (We overdid that a bit).
Thing is back then, wine was all so new to most people. They wanted to try everything! And I was happy to go get it.
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