You don’t survive as a business for over 300 years without keeping ahead of the game. I suppose. I’ve never been a business and I’m not 300 years old, but it sounds correct. The chaps at Berry Bros. & Rudd would be the ones to ask.
Berry Bros. have been at the forefront of the wine business (surely itself the second oldest profession in the world) for over 300 years, stretching its vinaceous tentacles globally from St. James, London. But this is no sluggish drunken dinosaur; Berry’s was the first wine shop to go online way back in the kindergarten days of the internet in 1994 (2 years before Google was born!).
Innovation and a focus on quality lie at heart of what Berry’s achievements. Mark Ross, Fine Wine Commercial Manager at Berry Bros. was kind enough to spend some time to answering my FatBanker’s Five (which ballooned to seven, as we were having so much fun):
- Tell me a little about your role at BBR and your history in the industry?
I started working at an off-license when I was at University. I had absolutely no knowledge of wine and can regularly remember buying copious volumes of Black Tower to ease the disappointing university grades! Whilst there, I went on a couple of in-house courses and learnt a little about wine, and my interest developed from there really. I then left university, and a friend who was working at Berry Bros. asked if I wanted to come and ‘learn on the job’ in one of the shops, which I did for a couple of years, and then joined the Fine Wine Dept. Once in the FWD I was responsible for some 600 customers totaling a turnover of 12m GBP per annum. After 3 years doing this, I moved away from the sales side and started my current job which is Fine Wine Commercial Manager. In this role I am responsible for exploring new markets and creating offers for the Fine Wine Team.
- Are the new markets you are looking into on the consumer or producer side, and how do you go about creating these offers?
Actually, on both the buying and the selling side. We are always looking to improve and expand our ‘New World’ range, and so I like to keep my ear to the ground when it comes to new, exciting producers. However, my primary focus is on acquiring new customers in these markets. We are not so hung-up on the ‘fine wine’ label as such – if we as a team believe the wine to offer pound-for-pound quality verses price to the customer, then we will get behind it. We are very much wine lovers in this company, and as such tend to look at the wine first, and then the commercial viability of it.
- How are environmental concerns impacting the global production of fine wine: will we see a global-warming-driven increase in UK-based wine production?
We are seeing both merchants and producers becoming much more aware and trying to be more ecologically accountable. There is much talk of the UK becoming a key wine producing market of the future, but this still remains to be seen. Theoretically the soil is in place (certain parts of the south have a similar geological make-up as Champagne) and the winemaking expertise can either be developed or bought in. However, it is very much a ‘what if’ scenario at present.
- So, you must have tasted a fair few wines in your time in the business; do you keep notes on them all? What are your tips for amateur wine-lovers? Have your personal preferences for wines changed over the years?
Indeed – the real perk of this job is that if you love wine, you do get to taste your way through the great (and the not-so-great) wines of the world. When tasting wines on specific wine tasting trips, I take very detailed tasting notes as inevitably a buying decision or an offer will be based upon my/our tastings. For amateur wine lovers – it’s very important not to get bogged down by the snobbery in the industry. Essentially, (stating the obvious) wine is a subjective thing, and so one person’s favourite might be another’s least favourite – it doesn’t mean the wine is bad! My general tip for getting the most out of wine is as follows: for sub-20 GBP wines, stick to the ‘New World’. You can get great Pinot and Sauvignon from NZ, Chile et al. for less than 20 GBP per bottle, all the way down to 4-5 GBP. For those with a bigger budget, you just can’t beat the classics – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone, Alsace etc. – this is where the pound vs. quality kicks in. My personal taste has been fairly eclectic. I go through phases. I started with Bordeaux, moved to Red Burgundy, then White Burgundy and am now going through a ’selective’ North American phase. However, my desert island wine would still be a white Burgundy.
- What’s the most amazing thing your job has allowed you to experience?
I think the experience of travelling to different regions to taste great wines – sometimes priceless wines – is something that most don’t experience and I feel very lucky to have done that. Also, the great restaurants are something that I doubt I would have experienced under my own steam – or not until I was a bit older and a bit more ‘cash rich’!!!
- Have you got your own cellar of carefully selected wines? What advice would you give to those looking to do similar?
Yes I have my own collection. It tends to be the case that if you work in the wine trade, you end up spending half of your wages on wines each month! I have about 60 cases (dozen) of wine from all over stored at work – from cheap to fairly pricey, from ready to drink now to needing 10 years, from French to New Zealand. For those that want to start a collection, the important thing is to make sure that you take advice but don’t be afraid to experiment. Collecting for investment is one thing, because there are established ‘performers’ that tend to do well. For drinking, there are the well-known names that would suggest to me some good knowledge, and also some names that would suggest knowledge of the ‘best kept secrets’ (Ridge & Au Bon Climat (USA), Felton Road (NZ), Zind-Humbrecht (Alsace), Ente & Fichet (white Burgundy), Cathiard (red Burgundy), Torbreck & Yarra Yering (Australia), Donnhoff (Germany), Domaine de la Soumade & La Nerthe (Rhone), Moulin St. Georges (Bordeaux) – of course there are others too. The secret is to get the best producers, focus on good/great vintages and not to become totally ’sheep-like’ to one journalist!
- What are your ambitions for your career within the industry?
My dream would be to end up running a branch of BBR in a glamorous, far-flung part of the world whilst cultivating a fantastic cellar!
What a nice chap. If you’d like to get in contact with Mark or Berry Bros. in relation to wine, pop your request in the comment form below and I’ll get in touch. FB.
