No, they’re fairly expensive.

They CAN be, but they do some very enjoyable £5 bottles so you just need to avoid getting carried away. Silver Ghost (I think!) is a very drinkable sauv blanc for £5…as good if not better than a supermarket wine on offer.

My cynical side says Majestic are like any other big business, buying stock to create the biggest profits for the business rather than buying the best for their customers.

So you think the small independent Specialist is out to buy the best for his customers whilst making as little profit as possible?

Whilst I too have a cynical side, I’d suggest that the buying power of Majestic allows it to sell good quality wine, whilst generating big enough profits to keep everyone happy.

Just stumbled across this, coincidentally. Might be of help.

The nice thing about this thread Cougar is that no one has made any pretensions about their wine knowledge…just what they drink and enjoy.

Rockape63. For over a decade I think the wine buyers at M&S are driven by profit margins and deals.

Hideous overpriced piss

So you think the small independent Specialist is out to buy the best for his customers whilst making as little profit as possible?

Did I say that or are you just making stuff up?

Typically an small independent specialist will source wines and sell them at 20% mark up. Based on that any wine in the entire world is available, they just go out and find the ones they love and will feel happy selling. Often the person who buys the wine will be selling it.

As an example, Majestic recently told all their suppliers that they expect them all to pay an extra 4p a bottle to fund a new warehouse. If the supplier doesn’t like it, they’re out the door, doesn’t matter how good their wines are. Majestic buyers will be working on which wines will generate the most income. In fact they’re probably working on which supplier will generate the most income, what wines the supplier has in their portfolio is probably further down the list of priorities, probably less important than payment terms.

For over a decade I think the wine buyers at M&S are driven by profit margins and deals.

Hideous overpriced piss

M & S are a Clothes retailer/supermarket…not exactly a wine specialist.

And…I’m certainly no Majestic expert or even fan. I go where I get good value wine and if that changes, I’ll find somewhere else. All I’m saying is that making profit is fine as long as the value remains for the consumer, or they’ll go out of business.

If you use Laithwaites, try out their Cabalie. Its a very distinguisable taste from most other reds, and is bl**dy lovely! Unfortunately only available at Laithwaites and 12 bottles+del is pretty expensive.

Co-op do a very reasonable wine, Andrew Peace £4.99 a bottle.

I misread this.

Got fed up on Tuesday night, drank a bottle of cheap Aldi white in about an hour on an empty stomach. Thankfully I also had so little sleep that I don’t think I noticed a hangover, I just felt queasy all the next day and slowly got back to normal.

Now I remember why I don’t usually do these things….

As you were 😉

n small independent specialist will source wines and sell them at 20% mark up. Based on that any wine in the entire world is available, they just go out and find the ones they love and will feel happy selling. Often the person who buys the wine will be selling it.

Also they will take parcels of wine that are too small for a national merchant, and punt it on at a keen price to keep cash flow high.