Do you really know what wine you like? More to the point, how can you be sure? To answer that question, we created our first own label range: Definition. I caught up with the man with the plan, Jamie Patterson.
What is Definition?
Definition is our first ever own label range of wine, made up of 12 wines, all hand picked and chosen to represent their style in the most classical and typical way. The tag line for for Definition is that it captures the quintessential qualities of the world’s greatest wine styles with a little help from some of the world’s greatest winemakers.
Why have you created it?
For us, one of the fundamental barriers to wine appreciation is the ambiguous choice and huge selection available in wine shops and the really poor way in which that choice is communicated. I mean, what does the average customer have to go on if they don’t know a huge amount about wine? Definition is the solution.
It demystifies wine?
Yes, or at least it tries to – Definition intends to provide a way for someone new to wine, or someone who wants to learn more about wine to taste and appreciate 12 of the most important and famous styles in the world. From there they can make far more informed decisions around what they like, what they should buy and how they interact with wine.
So the wines are average then?
Haha, you can decide that for yourself, but we don’t think so. Our aim was to push the boundaries of quality, so our customers would know exactly why, for example, Chablis is such a revered white wine. If we bottled an average one it wouldn’t work.
How did you choose the wines?
We sat down and discussed what makes each of the styles so timeless and from there it was easy to define the key attributes required for each. As an example, the Rioja had to be deep, smoky and powerful. That was it, so we tasted, tweaked, blended and tasted again until we knew we had nailed quintessential.
Did you make them yourselves?
No, although we had a very active hand in perfecting the blends alongside some of the best winemakers in the world, who then made the wine for us.
What if I’m not new to wine, can I still buy them?
Of course. Definition is not a novelty act. We think fundamentally that it looks good and tastes good and can appeal to anyone. However, whether we like it or not is irrelevant, it’s about whether our customers like it and think it to be of a good standard, the decision is theirs.
