A big fan of boutique wine shops, where lesser-known wines are given a fair shot and exceptional customer services are the name of the game, I'm not sure how I feel about chain stores getting press in major wine pubs. Don't they do ok on their own? No less, Decanter shared this week that Majestic (a big UK chain store) has not only won "Chain Store of the Year", but also that they are moving to a new purchasing requirement for customers: you don't have to buy 12 bottles any more, just 6. Are you kidding? This headline definitely caught my attention. How can you mandate something like that?
Meanwhile, Chile was also tearing things up at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Check this out: "Chile has proven itself a producer of some of the finest Sauvignon, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Cabernet blends in the world." This comment only supports my personal finding that Chile does pretty well with blending; but single varietal offerings are a) hard to come by and then b) when they do show up, it's a bit rough going (except, perhaps, Sauvignon Blanc). When will we start seeing some of these individual grapes winning awards? I think we're 5 years out at least.
What are your thoughts on this week's "news"?