A few weeks ago, amongst the avalanche of opinions on the wine industry, I came across an article in The Drinks Business (link HERE). It reports what Evgeny Chichvarkin, founder of Hedonism and Hide, said on a panel about fine wine in restaurants.
- The diners who can afford it
Most of his customers, shall we say, don’t have money problems. What he says matters because he tested it in his own business, and it cost him money.
Hide, his Michelin-starred restaurant in Mayfair, let diners drink bottles from Hedonism at retail prices plus corkage. He says no more customers came, and they "just lost some of the margin." Wine is now under 30% of Hide's sales, and the restaurant is building its business around food.
Guests who order wine still average about £24 a glass. As he puts it, "one dinner, one less glass."
A lower mark-up was never going to change how much these guests want to drink. That's one side of the market, driven mainly by health and lifestyle.
The drinkers who can't risk it
The report doesn't cover the other side. In my view, money matters more there: many households have less to spend than they did. Young people sit on both sides. Some can afford wine and choose to drink less. Others are on tighter budgets and choose carefully.
For these drinkers, wine feels like a risk, on the shelf and at the bar. A wine they might not like is money wasted. A cocktail often costs as much, but they know roughly what they'll get.
Most of the drinks trade is shrinking, and I'd argue estate wine finds it hardest to adapt. A gin distillery can change a recipe in weeks and adjust volume. Planting a vineyard is a decision for decades. So everything around the wine, how it's sold and served, has to change faster.
Good ideas rarely come from the same room and the same people. Often it's a remark from someone in another industry, or a question nobody in your own building would think to ask.
Established businesses need to change how they sell. New ones need to focus on the experience and services that make them different and attractive, with wine as one part, not the centre of the stage.
Where I'd start
Sizes that fit the occasion. A 75cl bottle is a plan for the whole evening. Diageo is building a price and format ladder, with its brands in smaller, cheaper bottles. Wine could do the same with the wines people don't know yet.
Use the data you already hold. Wine clubs, online shops and cellar doors know what each customer buys. Use it to personalise the service.
Supermarkets leading the change. They have the vast majority of wine sales in UK shops, so the category needs them. Have you ever watched people's faces in the wine aisle? To me, it's the hardest aisle in the store.
These ideas can bring in new drinkers. Some will become wine lovers.
Others will have one glass with dinner.
And that's fine too.