Retail profile: Roberson Wine

Nestled in the well-heeled London borough of Kensington and owned by Cliff Roberson, founder of wine agent Buckingham Schenk, the company follows no protocol when it comes to being a wine merchant and as such has a clear and distinct identity.

Its 2,000-2,500 range of wines are merchandised through the 1,800 lines on the swanky shop floor. And buyers often seek out smaller parcels of wine for customers, sometimes this will be as little as six bottles. 

Customers who appreciate Roberson’s non-patronising manner of selling wine have been key to the company’s success since it started trading in 1991. Today, the six members of store staff with an estimated average age of 34 (if you exclude one of the six!) provides a sales team with enough youth to be savvy about trends but enough experience to provide sound advice. 

Encouraging the staff to embrace the technique of down-to-earth wine selling is store manager of 18 months (and Roberson employee for five years) Joe Gilmour. 

Gilmour is particularly keen that staff do not shroud wine in mystique for the customers, believing the key to ensuring customer satisfaction is providing a combination of knowledge and informality. He says: “We’re very keen to ensure we match whatever budget and all the while not being patronising or talking down to the customer.”

Inevitably, Roberson, like every other merchant at the moment, has adapted to the current economic climate and the subsequent change in consumer spending habits.

In Roberson’s case, this means the recent delisting of some New World wines to make way for a wider selection of “everyday wines”, mostly those under £10. Gilmour adds: “With the current trend towards drinking at home, we’ve actually seen an increase in footfall. So we have started sourcing big stacks of wines, say 50 cases at a time and will take a cut in margin to offer something that’s interesting to the customer but that’s also a little bit more everyday.”

At a time when many customers regard everyday wines as being synonymous with the New World, Roberson’s delisting tactic may sound unorthodox. 

However, Roberson’s speciality is with Bordeaux and Burgundy. How many other high-street merchants feature a fine wine cage stocked with goodies such as Pétrus 1989 at £6,000 a bottle? 

And, while it is adapting to convert the increased footfall into an increase in sales, Gilmour believes the store’s strong position in trading Burgundy and Bordeaux, both on the shop floor and through en primeur, has allowed it to benefit from the supermarkets’ less aggressive focus on fine wine sections during the recession. He adds: “Supermarkets have been trying to beef up the fine wine areas, but not so much now and we’re benefiting from that.”

In a determined effort to show a Bordeaux and Burgundy specialist can be “hip”, Gilmour confirms the company is about to revamp its website which will complement its blog. Furthermore, the merchant will launch its very own wine school in the autumn. Gilmour says: “We looked at all the wine schools out there to learn about what’s on the market. We had to ask what can we bring to the market. 

“To be niche, our school is going to be done in our own irreverent and fun way. We’ll be looking at the what, where and why. We’ll be looking at things like how to spot a corked wine.” Satisfied there was a gap in the market, Roberson’s plans to launch four two-hour wine school sessions, yet further evidence of this merchant’s genuine desire to educate consumers.

Roberson Wine’s tastings:

Roberson Wine has attracted a lot of attention up until now through its impressively ambitious and high quality tasting calendar. The Parker vs Broadbent tasting was one of the most notable. At the event, the tasting audience decided whether its tastes were more aligned to Broadbent’s or Parker’s palate as each château was scored high by one critic and low by the other.

Next on the events calendar should be a Sassicaia tasting, and there’s a delicious rumour circulating that 

the very first vintage of the Tuscan superstar, 1969, is going to be available at the tasting. 

Despite the prestige and rarity of some of the wines featured in the tastings, Roberson is keen not to price itself too highly for these sought-after events. “We generally try to keep the tickets prices down. We’re lucky because we don’t have to cover venue costs,” he adds, as the store is the venue for each event. 

Contact details:

Roberson Wine

348 Kensington High Street

London W14 8NS

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7371 2121

enquiries@roberson.co.uk

www.robersonwinemerchant.co.uk

Jane Parkinson, 27.07.09