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Harrods opens revamped wine department with eye-popping prices Harrods opens revamped wine department with eye-popping prices
(35 minutes later)
While the rest of the country is scouring the likes of Lidl and Aldi for bargain booze, London's fine wine market – including champagne – is booming. While the rest of the country is scouring the likes of Lidl and Aldi for bargain booze, London's market for fine wines – including champagne – is booming.
Confirming the widely held view that the capital exists in a privileged bubble, the luxury retailer Harrods is on Tuesday opening the doors of its refurbished wine and spirits department and an eye-popping price range which is unashamedly aimed at well-heeled connoisseurs and collectors – including its billionaire oligarch neighbours as well as big-spending tourists. Confirming the widely held view that the capital exists in a privileged bubble, the luxury retailer Harrods is opening the doors of its refurbished wines and spirits department to reveal an eye-popping price range that is unashamedly aimed at well-heeled connoisseurs and collectors – including its billionaire oligarch neighbours and big-spending tourists.
The new 650 sq metre (7,000 sq ft) basement space is designed to help shoppers navigate around the 2,000 wines, 200 champagnes and 500 spirits, using a new labelling system to denote price. The cheapest bottles of wine are hardly a snip at £9.95, although cheap is not an adjective that goes down well at Harrods. Its new system of shaded shelf labels named "better, best and extraordinary" (going from light to dark to reflect the price band) will help shoppers decide whether they need to take out a mortgage to buy a case. The new 650 sq metre (7,000 sq ft) basement space is designed to help shoppers navigate the 2,000 wines, 200 champagnes and 500 spirits, using a new labelling system to denote price. The cheapest bottles of wine are hardly a snip, at £9.95 – though cheap is not an adjective that goes down well at Harrods. Its new system of shaded shelf labels, named "better", "best" and "extraordinary" (going from light to dark to reflect the price band) will help shoppers decide whether they need to take out a mortgage to buy a case.
At the extraordinary end of extraordinary is a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal champagne – the highly prized 2002 vintage – nestling discreetly in a presentation box inside its own real gold "cage" on an open shelf. The jeroboam is the first of only seven being sold by Roederer in the UK this year, and will retail for £18,000.At the extraordinary end of extraordinary is a bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal champagne – the highly prized 2002 vintage – nestling discreetly in a presentation box inside its own real gold "cage" on an open shelf. The jeroboam is the first of only seven being sold by Roederer in the UK this year, and will retail for £18,000.
Edward Gerard, wine and spirits buyer at Harrods, says its sales of champagne from all producers and in all price ranges are booming and it will have no problems selling this unusual product: "This will be offered to our elite clients and because of its huge investment potential we think it is likely to end up on the secondary market. 2002 was an exceptional vintage and although the champagne is drinkable young, it will be excellent if cellared and then drunk in 20 or even 30 years' time." The retailer has seen strong sales of champagne following major sporting events such as Wimbledon, while the imminent royal birth will trigger further interest, it forecasts. Edward Gerard, wine and spirits buyer at Harrods, says its sales of champagne from all producers and in all price ranges are booming, and it will have no problems selling this unusual product.
Central to the redesign is the copper-clad dedicated spirits room – designed to house 40% more volume in spirits – in a traditional environment complete with a leather seating area (bound to be a magnet and photo opportunity for tourists) modelled on an old-fashioned gentlemen's club. At Harrods sales of spirits have soared on the back of the popularity of cocktails and the recent film The Great Gatsby, while the global market for luxury spirits continues to flourish with growth of 12% forecast this year. He said: "This will be offered to our elite clients, and because of its huge investment potential we think it is likely to end up on the secondary market. 2002 was an exceptional vintage, and although the champagne is drinkable young, it will be excellent if cellared and then drunk in 20 or even 30 years' time." The retailer has seen strong sales of champagne after major sporting events such as Wimbledon, while the imminent royal birth will trigger further interest, it forecasts.
The room will showcase unique releases from global luxury brands such as Rémy Martin Louis XIII, the Dalmore, the Macallan, Glenfiddich and Courvoisier. For example, the Dalmore Paterson Collection – considered to be the rarest whiskies in the world – goes on sale with a price tag of £987,500. The 12 whiskies date from 1926 up to the 1990s, each in a hand-crafted full-lead crystal decanter finished with hand-engraved silver, and housed in a wooden cabinet made by one of Britain's leading cabinet makers, Gavin Robertson. Central to the redesign is the copper-clad dedicated spirits room – designed to house 40% more volume in spirits – in a traditional environment, complete with a leather seating area modelled on an old-fashioned gentlemen's club. It's bound to be a magnet and photo opportunity for tourists.
At Harrods, sales of spirits have soared on the back of the popularity of cocktails and the recent film The Great Gatsby, while the global market for luxury spirits continues to flourish, with growth of 12% forecast this year.
The room will showcase unique releases from global luxury brands such as Rémy Martin Louis XIII, the Dalmore, the Macallan, Glenfiddich and Courvoisier. For example, the Dalmore Paterson Collection – considered to comprise the rarest whiskies in the world – goes on sale with a price tag of £987,500. The 12 whiskies date from 1926 up to the 1990s, each in a hand-crafted full-lead crystal decanter finished with hand-engraved silver, and housed in a wooden cabinet made by one of Britain's leading cabinet makers, Gavin Robertson.
Harrods will organise regular tastings and themed, ticketed evenings revolving around special promotions. But while it is upping its game with more assistance, with wine and food pairings recommended by sommeliers and other initiatives, it is eschewing trendy gadgets such as "enomatic" wine-dispensing machines which offer a glass of premium wine for a swipe of a credit card.Harrods will organise regular tastings and themed, ticketed evenings revolving around special promotions. But while it is upping its game with more assistance, with wine and food pairings recommended by sommeliers and other initiatives, it is eschewing trendy gadgets such as "enomatic" wine-dispensing machines which offer a glass of premium wine for a swipe of a credit card.
The director of foods at Harrods, Bruce Langlands, sees the redevelopment as "an opportunity to improve an increasingly diverse range of products and to cement the longstanding relationship between Harrods and the world's finest drinks producers. This fantastic renovation really reflects the mutual strive for continual and consistent quality."The director of foods at Harrods, Bruce Langlands, sees the redevelopment as "an opportunity to improve an increasingly diverse range of products and to cement the longstanding relationship between Harrods and the world's finest drinks producers. This fantastic renovation really reflects the mutual strive for continual and consistent quality."
But some experts in the wine industry think the move by Harrods is not only in response to the growing competition of the internet, but also the arrival of the supermarkets (Tesco and Marks & Spencer in particular) into fine wines and rival department stores such as Selfridges that have smartened up their the act. And Harrods is likely to be miffed that London's talked-about luxury wine store Hedonism not only poached its head wine buyer Alistair Viner but has also outdone it on the bling stakes. But some experts in the wine industry think the move by Harrods is not only in response to the growing competition of the internet, but also the arrival of the supermarkets (Tesco and Marks & Spencer in particular) into fine wines, and moves by rival department stores such as Selfridges, which have smartened up their the act. And Harrods is likely to be miffed that London's talked-about luxury wine store Hedonism not only poached its head wine buyer, Alistair Viner, but has also outdone it on the bling stakes.