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Giles Cooper, marketing director at BI Fine Wine & Spirit Merchants, says that people tend to ‘revert to the classics’. Here he includes Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhone. These, he says, are well-balanced wines that go well with food. Cooper also includes in this list of ‘classics’, some wines from Spain, like Rioja. These, he says, tend to be more mature, as they spend more time in the barrel.
In terms of the price point, Cooper says that if you pay between £35.00-50.00 per bottle of wine, and you take good advice, should you need it, you can tap into the fine wine market. However, he also points out that the wine market is driven by supermarkets in the UK and the average price per bottle remains under £7.00.
So far as the New Year celebrations are concerned, sparkling wine remains the prime choice. Here, English sparkling wines are beginning to compete against some of the Champagne labels. But Cooper says, at the top end, there is still no major challenge to Dom Perignon, Christal, Krug and Tattinger Comtes de Champagne.