Ellis of Richmond embarks on marketing mission

UK importer Ellis of Richmond held its largest ever tasting in London this week in an attempt to raise its trade profile and display a number of new agencies such as South Africa’s Creation label from Walker Bay, Tuscany’s Colombini and Valdobbiadene’s Bortolitti Prosecco.

Company director James Ellis also said that McLaren Vale’s Geoff Merrill Wines would become exclusive to Ellis of Richmond from 1 April.

Although the company already represents a selection of Geoff Merrill wines, Ellis has not had exclusivity for the entire range, with PLB acting as UK agent for a proportion of the Merrill portfolio.

However, from springtime, Ellis of Richmond will be sole UK agent for Geoff Merrill, except for the winemaker’s BMW label, which was created by Merrill in partnership with Ian Botham and Bob Willis, and has an exclusivity arrangement with Tesco.

James Ellis was pleased with the turn-out of almost 300 visitors to the tasting – held in the Northumberland Hotel, just off Trafalgar Square, on Tuesday 15 February – and said that the importer would repeat the event at around the same time next year.

“We’ve been doing things quietly for a long time and the competition has been doing rather better when it comes to marketing,” he told the drinks business, referring to other UK importers and distributors specialising in the London on-trade.

Robert Ellis, James’ brother, admitted that the company was considering doing a tasting on this scale two years ago, but decided against it due to the economic crisis. “When the whole world imploded we cancelled our plans,” he said.

db was particularly impressed by a 2010 vintage Vinho Verde made with the Loureiro grape from Quinta de Gomariz, which was shown as part of a cross-section of new additions to the Ellis portfolio. Notably, this wine, like Portugal’s Tagus Creek brand, comes with a QR code printed on the label.

Patrick Schmitt, 17.02.2011