Best place to buy quite a lot of wine?

[UTH]

During our renovation we have turned the space under our stairs into a pretty awesome looking wine store (not temperature controlled), but it turns out it takes quite a lot of wine to fill it, so at the moment it basically looks empty!

So, I'm thinking I need to take the plunge, drop a fair amount of cash to fill it up, and then just try and keep on top of keeping it 'topped up'

I haven't counted exactly, but let's say I need 150 bottles of red, where would be the best place to go? I'm not looking for anything super expensive, this isn't to 'invest' in wine, it's just for everyday drinking but so that the store actually looks full as it is meant to look.

Any ideas welcome. I know there's things like Virgin Wines etc, or do I go to somewhere like Aldi (my friend raves about the quality and value) and drop £1k-£2k to get it all in one go and sit back and admire?

[rustyuk]

I'd find a local wine merchant and go and physically see them.

[tomsugden]

Go to majestic and do some tastings, then do a day trip to majestic in Calais and buy the same wine.

[akirk]

what are your interests in wine - what are your drinking rates
if you are buying 150 bottles of wine and drink a bottle a month, then some of it won't be all that good when you come to drink it - but as long as temperatures don't go too much above c. 25deg then you may be okay to lay down wine - why not go to a local specialist and see if they will do you a deal, some wines to drink now / some to lay down / etc. - laying down wines effectively lets you drink better wines at cheaper prices...

[sherman]

Majestic could be a good shout with a couple of deals and unless you know what type you want you can mix and match easily.

[okgo]

The problem being is that you then are constantly in this position of having to slowly make your way through wine but constantly replacing it so as not to be embarrassed by a half empty rack. This is why unless you're buying decent bottles (nobody will admire a rack full of Campe Viejo) it is best to keep these things out of public viewing IMO.

Tesco do 25% off 6 bottles as an offer fairly often and you can buy perfectly drinkable stuff for not a lot that way and obviously have it all delivered. Or you can convert avios into nectar points (or even buy booze via avios direct) and buy it with those too. Or obviously just a wine merchant but I doubt it'll be cheaper than one of the big supermarkets on an offer though will offer perhaps more choice.

[UTH]

akirk said:

what are your interests in wine - what are your drinking rates
if you are buying 150 bottles of wine and drink a bottle a month, then some of it won't be all that good when you come to drink it - but as long as temperatures don't go too much above c. 25deg then you may be okay to lay down wine - why not go to a local specialist and see if they will do you a deal, some wines to drink now / some to lay down / etc. - laying down wines effectively lets you drink better wines at cheaper prices...

Probably a far higher rate than it should be to be honest, coupled with the times we have people over and have a late one, I think we could rattle through a fair amount each month, so I'd say there's not too much of a worry about stuff hanging around to the point it's not drinkable anymore.

Going local is probably a good idea, see what they can do for me. For this instance it's fair to say I'm probably quantity over quality though, and not really looking for stuff that I will leave for a year or whatever.....although as I type that I do quite like the idea of having some of the sections of the store left alone as the 'drink next year' stuff.....I might as well consider that approach given I have such a nice space for it.

[MattyD803]

tomsugden said:

Go to majestic and do some tastings, then do a day trip to majestic in Calais and buy the same wine.

There is now a 24 bottle limit per adult, so you'd need to take a few friends and/or make a couple of trips....At £150 return for the crossing plus fuel, I can't imagine it is still worth it, is it?

[UTH]

okgo said:

The problem being is that you then are constantly in this position of having to slowly make your way through wine but constantly replacing it so as not to be embarrassed by a half empty rack. This is why unless you're buying decent bottles (nobody will admire a rack full of Campe Viejo) it is best to keep these things out of public viewing IMO.

Tesco do 25% off 6 bottles as an offer fairly often and you can buy perfectly drinkable stuff for not a lot that way and obviously have it all delivered. Or you can convert avios into nectar points (or even buy booze via avios direct) and buy it with those too. Or obviously just a wine merchant but I doubt it'll be cheaper than one of the big supermarkets on an offer though will offer perhaps more choice.

Yeah I see what you mean. The way the store is setup there actually only one 'display' rack where you can actually see what it is, the rest of the store you would only be able to tell there are bottles in it, no idea what it is exactly.

I do agree that a Tesco 25% off deal might be a better way to go than a wine merchant, I've certainly never thought of Majestic as somewhere to go for quantity over quality, although I do love it - got my wedding wine from there.

[UTH]

MattyD803 said:

tomsugden said:

Go to majestic and do some tastings, then do a day trip to majestic in Calais and buy the same wine.

There is now a 24 bottle limit per adult, so you'd need to take a few friends and/or make a couple of trips....At £150 return for the crossing plus fuel, I can't imagine it is still worth it, is it?

Sadly I don't think I'd ever get around to all that effort, as much fun as it used to be years ago when we did it.

[MattyD803]

UTH said:

Sadly I don't think I'd ever get around to all that effort, as much fun as it used to be years ago when we did it.

I'd agree.

I'd think Majestic (or one of those type of outlets) would be your best bet, but have a chat with the manager. I'm sure on big orders there are deals to be had.....especially this time of year.

[Bill]

I'd go with keeping 1/3 for daily plonk that you top up semi-regularly and then fill the rest with a selection to age for yourself, dipping in to it for special occasions. However I have no idea where to start on sourcing the wines to be aged.

[sherman]

MattyD803 said:

tomsugden said:

Go to majestic and do some tastings, then do a day trip to majestic in Calais and buy the same wine.

There is now a 24 bottle limit per adult, so you'd need to take a few friends and/or make a couple of trips....At £150 return for the crossing plus fuel, I can't imagine it is still worth it, is it?

With covid are you even allowed into france just now?

[okgo]

UTH said:

Yeah I see what you mean. The way the store is setup there actually only one 'display' rack where you can actually see what it is, the rest of the store you would only be able to tell there are bottles in it, no idea what it is exactly.

I do agree that a Tesco 25% off deal might be a better way to go than a wine merchant, I've certainly never thought of Majestic as somewhere to go for quantity over quality, although I do love it - got my wedding wine from there.

The REAL trick is finding someone you know with a tesco staff card (which I happen to have one of) and then do said order when they have 15% weekend on, that way you can stack it with the 25% offer and its 40% off.

We bought nearly 60 bottles at xmas when the staff discount is 20% so basically were buying champagne/wine half price which was a touch.

[UTH]

Bill said:

I'd go with keeping 1/3 for daily plonk that you top up semi-regularly and then fill the rest with a selection to age for yourself, dipping in to it for special occasions. However I have no idea where to start on sourcing the wines to be aged.

I mean that would be an ideal way to go the more I think about it, although I fear the costs would spiral as we're then talking 'good' wine for the 2/3 rather than £5-£10 per bottle plonk, but I may be wrong, I've never bought wine for ageing/keeping.

[UTH]

okgo said:

UTH said:

Yeah I see what you mean. The way the store is setup there actually only one 'display' rack where you can actually see what it is, the rest of the store you would only be able to tell there are bottles in it, no idea what it is exactly.

I do agree that a Tesco 25% off deal might be a better way to go than a wine merchant, I've certainly never thought of Majestic as somewhere to go for quantity over quality, although I do love it - got my wedding wine from there.

The REAL trick is finding someone you know with a tesco staff card (which I happen to have one of) and then do said order when they have 15% weekend on, that way you can stack it with the 25% offer and its 40% off.

We bought nearly 60 bottles at xmas when the staff discount is 20% so basically were buying champagne/wine half price which was a touch.

Haha, yes, that would be a win!

[Bill]

UTH said:

I mean that would be an ideal way to go the more I think about it, although I fear the costs would spiral as we're then talking 'good' wine for the 2/3 rather than £5-£10 per bottle plonk, but I may be wrong, I've never bought wine for ageing/keeping.

You're not after investment wine though, so I'd have thought it'd be worth ageing something in the £5-10 bracket. It'll need a bit of research but I'd be tempted to do it as an experiment.

[number2]

We have a large wine cellar fridge - 123 bottles. It remains relatively full - half(ish) white wine and champagne, other half reds.

I have a range of wines (I look after the red section ) going from the 'everyday' tipple to the more expensive, get-out-with-a-nice-dinner/guests-I-like wines.

I just fill it as I fancy and as required - contents ebb and flow. I buy wine in my weekly shop and other wines through Wine Society - they give an ideal drinking range (years) and tasting notes which is nice - although I forget the notes and the date range by the time I get to the wine!

Maybe re-think the filling it up now and just buy a range of wines to spread around your rack, an update as and when you fancy.

[CardinalBlue]

https://www.corneyandbarrow.com/

No affiliation, just a happy customer.

[UTH]

Bill said:

UTH said:

I mean that would be an ideal way to go the more I think about it, although I fear the costs would spiral as we're then talking 'good' wine for the 2/3 rather than £5-£10 per bottle plonk, but I may be wrong, I've never bought wine for ageing/keeping.

You're not after investment wine though, so I'd have thought it'd be worth ageing something in the £5-10 bracket. It'll need a bit of research but I'd be tempted to do it as an experiment.

Good point. My limited mind tells me that anything to be kept for ageing must be very expensive, but no doubt that's nonsense, especially based on what you have said.