Champagne section completes Harrods wine shop revamp

Harrods has completed the refurbishment and expansion of its wine shop with the opening of its Champagne area on Tuesday this week.

The section, which houses 230 different Champagnes under the lights of a large chandelier, forms part of the new 7,000 square feet space containing an aroma zone, fine wine vault, events room and tasting bar with an Enomatic wine preservation system.

The impressive new shop has allowed head wine buyer Alistair Viner to expand the wine range from a little over 2,000 to 3,000 lines, as well as conduct tastings using a regularly updated selection of 18 wines from the Enomatic.

The enlarged area has also enabled Viner to create an air-conditioned, glass-encased fine wine vault for displaying large formats, first growths and special collections.

“We’ve found a big upturn in the fine wine market and so we wanted something special,” said Viner, who struggled to find space in the old wine shop to effectively display the more rarified wines on offer.

The vault currently contains a Chave Cuvée Cathelin collection with all six vintages ever made of this micro-cuvée launched in 1990, as well as a 27-litre bottle of Flaccianello della Pieve, a verticle of Masseto comprising every vintage since its inception in 1986 and other highly collectable wines from around the world.

Referring to the wine shop as a whole, which was conceived two years ago and has been under construction since August, Viner explained: “We want to grow our base of customers and offer people who are interested in wine something to go home with, whether it’s £7.95 or £795.”

Further highlights in the bright, modern and spacious new shop include the aroma zone which contains the first ever interactive Nez du Vin allied to a plasma screen. “We hope to use this as a selling tood which will list the wines on sale with these flavours,” added Viner.

“We are trying to create a space that has a lot of dwell time,” he said, referring to the Nez du Vin as well as the open plan nature of the new shop and tasting area which will include cheese and charcuterie from the Food Halls above.

“It is all about education and the lifestyle around wine because we’ve found that people want to learn, and an educated customer is one who will want to spend more.”

Viner plans to use a separate room alongside the retail space for winemaker dinners and wine courses.

The shop also includes two spirits sections, one for top end brown spirits such as Cognac and Scotch, as well as an area selling cigars.

The wine range starts from £6.95 and the shop is open from 9am – 9pm.

Click here for a brief guided tour of the new space.

Patrick Schmitt, 17.11.2010