Wine Pub 21/10/09 15:48 Page 34
34 Monday 26/10/09 thePublican Book your tickets today at www.thepublicanfda.com
The finalists
WINE PUB OF THE YEAR
THE ANCHOR INN
THE FACTS
Nayland, Suffolk
Hector Bunting
• Type of pub: Freehold
• Number of wines:
200 by the bottle/20
The Anchor is a family-owned country pub that has a strong focus on sustain- by the glass
ability with a third of its wine produced in-house, all its meat reared on its • Cost of house red
own farm, and much of its vegetables grown in the pub’s grounds. bottle: £14.50
• Best seller: Adnams
Describe your wine offer White Burgundy 2007
A major focus of the list is the English wine produced by Carter’s Vineyard, • Wet/dry split: 23/73
which is part of the family business. This accounts for around a third of sales. • Employees: 25
Hector says the other wines are selected on the straightforward basis of
whether he (and his customers) will like them, with wines from many coun-
tries stocked. Although the list is not extensive he says the pared down offer
works well with his core customers who want an edited proposition.
THE CROWN
What innovations have you used to make your wine offer a success?
A major change undertaken by Hector was to reduce the range from 90
Southwold, Suffolk
bottles to 25, which is expected to increase wine from 22 per cent of wet sales
Francis Guildea
to 35 per cent this year. He also introduced the policy of ordering food at the
bar, which gives staff extra time to communicate with customers and recom-
mend drinks. Wine tastings are a regular feature with suppliers visiting the The Crown, in the centre of Southwold, is one of Adnams’ flagship food-led
pub to give talks. outlets and seeks to provide a wide-ranging wine offer to complement its
menu and appeal to its slightly-older, affluent clientele.
How do you market, merchandise and display your wine to customers?
The pub’s till system is set up to enable free samples to be given to customers Describe your wine offer
as a way of introducing them to English wines. The two regularly-changing It is an extensive list encompassing 200 bottles of which 25 per cent are exclu-
guest wines are also promoted at the bar with posters and a low price point sive to Adnams and have the company’s own labels. Francis says: “It’s an
(with a lesser GP than on the other wines). Hector also uses a loyalty eclectic list that covers all the bases with a focus on exclusive wines from
programme of mail and email addresses to distribute details of forthcoming small producers. Most are priced between £20 and £25, which means we can
events. be adventurous as we’re not at the cheapest end of the market.” Around 20
wines are available by the glass and these are changed gradually about six
times per year.
What innovations have you used to make your wine offer a success?
With the large wines by the glass, the pub invested in a Verre de Vin cabinet
THE FACTS
to keep the wines at the correct temperature. There has also been a change
of glassware to better reflect the quality of the wines served. In addition,
Francis says the pub recently started to put food and wine matching sugges-
• Type of pub: Freehold tions on its wine list to prompt more experimentation among diners.
• Number of wines:
25 by the bottle/9 by How do you market, merchandise and display your wine to customers?
the glass There is a monthly display on the bar that incorporates the profile of a
• Cost of house red selected grower, which markets the ‘wine of the month’. With the downturn
bottle: £11 Francis says there has been a move at the pub to be “more proactive on the
• Best seller: Giotto wines we’re promoting so we encourage people to have a sample before
Pinot Grigio deciding”. The policy of putting all front-of-house staff and selected others
• Wet/dry split: 40/60 on the WSET foundation course provides them with the knowledge to recom-
• Employees: 15 mend wines and this has helped drive sales. The wine list has also been
changed to incorporate more information on growers and visuals.
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