Profile: The Old Bridge wine shop

As this year’s winner of the Best Wine List in the UK for its restaurant list, the AA 2010 Guide accolade awarded to The Old Bridge Hotel in Huntingdon could be extended to the choices in its wine shop located on the ground floor of the Cambridgeshire hotel. Why? Because the wines are identical.

Owner John Hoskins MW has no mark-up margin secrets to hide, so he has no qualms about extending his 400+ bin list from the on- to the off-trade in the same building.

“For us, it seemed like an obvious thing to do, plus [at the time] there was nowhere for people to buy wine locally,” said Hoskins, who opened the shop in December last year, 14 years after buying the hotel.

The store, which is managed by Stuart Frampton from Victoria, Australia (and who previously worked at The Ritz in London), contains two Enomatic machines, one each for white and red wines.

Talking of the machines complementing both the shop and the restaurant, “The crossover is fantastic,” added Hoskins, explaining that diners can start their night by paying £7.50 to experiment with eight different wines rather than pay for one by-the-glass apéritif.

Or, groups of 12-30 people can enjoy exclusive use of the shop for up to an hour’s tasting, with a minimum charge of £15.95 per person (including canapés).

The bright and airy store has the circular Enomatic machine as the main centerpiece of the shop floor where shelves are solid oak, each wine has its own brief card of tastings notes and/or producer commentary and perhaps most importantly, the wines are very competitively priced.

What’s more, where possible, the bottles on display are well-preserved empties to ensure minimum wastage through extended exposure to heating, artificial lighting or sunlight.

Wines are listed by style rather than region, as with the restaurant wine list. “It encourages people to move away from their normal choices and it stops wines from more obscure places getting lost,” added Hoskins.

The store offers pre-mixed cases including the £100 case and the Dinner Party case, and it can also provide a mail order service, with a flat delivery charge of £3.95 for local deliveries or an extra (again, flat) charge for anywhere in the UK.

For more information and to view the varied selection on offer, visit www.theoldbridge.com

The Old Bridge Hotel
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire
PE29 3TQ
Tel: +44 (0) 1480 458410

Jane Parkinson, 26.10.2009