Category: Company News

It’s that time of year again. Next week, thousands of wine trade types from across the world will descend on Bordeaux for a week-long, stamina-testing series of tastings of the new vintage. As ever, Majestic (yours truly included) will be there, and we’ll report back via this very blog in as much detail as our […]

Since the budget sales have soared, and it’s clear that our competitors are experiencing a similar uplift too. While the increase in duty is significant, and will have a very real effect on wine prices, the size of the uplift has taken us by surprise. Is this a sign that the consumer doesn’t like a wagging […]

Every year at Majestic our staff choose a charity which we support with all our fund raising activities. Last year we raised over £60,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and obviously each year we hope to beat the previous year. This year our staff have chosen to support the Alzheimer’s Society, and Owen Wynne-Jones, manager […]

The big news this week will obviously be the amount of extra duty Alistair Darling dares to put on wine. Over the last few years the Chancellor has largely chosen to leave spirits and sparkling wines alone, but has consistently loaded the duty onto still wine. This year however we are expecting a hike on everything as […]

There’s no doubt that one of the wine success stories of the 2000s (I hate the connotations connected with ‘noughties’) has been the explosion of New Zealand wines, most notably Sauvignon Blanc. When I first started at Majestic in Summer 2002, I recall my WSET Advanced Certificate book informing us eager new recruits that despite […]

You may may read in the financial press (or if not you can read the official statement here) that Tim How, our chief executive of many years, has decided to retire in the near future.  I joined Majestic just a month or so before Tim, and my career in the wine trade has been entirely under his […]

[digg=http://digg.com/food_drink/Sausage_wine]”Sausage wine” is a description coined by Tony Mason, Majestic’s Trading Director who retired several years ago. It describes a red wine that is good value rather than expensive, more on the rustic side than fine, but interesting and characterful – in other words, the kind of wine Majestic staff would drink with sausages. I […]

There is an undoubted trend towards wines with less obvious oak and more aromatic fruit, but I couldn’t resist recommending this.  Rioja is in some respects slightly confusing at the moment, with some producers veering towards a modern, rather ‘international’ style, while others are resolutely traditional. Well, this Marques de Murrieta Blanco Gran Reserva 1998 is certainly in […]