Festive luxury retail: what are consumers buying this Christmas?

Times may be challenging, but that’s unlikely to stop consumers from wanting to get the festive party started, reports Arabella Mileham.

It used to be a given that Christmas was a time for feasting, making merry, sipping fine wine and generally partying. But recent years have seen a catologue of bad news raining on that particular parade. From rising costs, raging inflation, pandemic woes and imminent changes to the tax banding regime, it’s no wonder that consumer confidence has been somewhat fragile of late. It is enough to make one wonder whether the ‘luxury Christmas’ is dead in the water. Thankfully, according to Elizabeth Newman, Majestic’s commercial director, the answer is most assuredly not.

“Christmas is a time of year when we know our customers like to treat themselves and trade up – they want to open a bottle of something really special to enjoy with their family and friends during the festive season,” she says. “There’s obviously a fair bit of uncertainty out there and probably a little bit of caution from consumers following the Budget, but our customers always want to celebrate Christmas in style, and we don’t really see that changing too much this year.”

‘There’s been a lot of interest in larger formats this year, particularly magnums for sharing with family on Christmas day’

As Newman notes, fine wine continues to perform strongly as a category and, at Majestic, the buying team has worked hard to put together what she describes as “probably our best-ever seasonal range of high-quality, unique wines across all price points”. This caters for customers on any budget, while allowing those who are looking for “that little splash of luxury” to trade up.

Early shoppers at Berry Bros. & Rudd (BBR) have also tended to focus on quality and special bottles for Christmas, the retailer tells the drinks business.

“What always strikes our shop teams – whether in our London or Basingstoke stores – is the consideration and care our customers take when choosing wines for Christmas,” Barbara Drew MW muses. “They might be looking for a perfectly mature bottle of claret, or a wine from a region they have connections to, or that they have visited recently.”

There’s also been a lot of interest in larger formats this year, particularly magnums for sharing with family on Christmas day, Drew adds.

HOOKED ON CLASSICS

As ever, the best-known regions are seeing strong demand over the Christmas period, with Bordeaux and Burgundy proving the highlights.

“Consumers are going back to the classics, from mature Bordeaux wines, such as Château L’Eglise Clinet, Pomerol, or white Burgundy, which is proving more popular than ever,” Justerini & Brooks buying director Giles Burke-Gaffney says, “as well as iconic wines from the likes of Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair”.

The festive season is also the most obvious time to crack open mature wines – and retailers such as BBR are homing in on this for Christmas 2024.

“There is something quite lovely about the ceremony around an old bottle of wine, making sure it’s been standing upright for 24 hours, carefully easing the cork out, gently decanting off the sediment – and of course using the sediment in the Christmas gravy,” Drew says.

However, even at the top end of the retail landscape, customers are still looking at where value can be found – and the second wines from grand Bordeaux properties fit the bill, according to Burke-Gaffney. He cites wines from the Médoc, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Castillon and regional- or village-level wines, while Burgundy lovers are looking to Mercurey, Marsannay, Pernand-Vergelesses and Maranges this year.

“These are wines made by artisans, and are given the same time and attention as producers’ premiers and grands crus, but are offered at a fraction of the price,” he explains.

Outside the Burgundy and Bordeaux heartland, there is much to excite the consumer. “Rioja sees an uptick at this time of year, with mature reservas and gran reservas making a really versatile match for so many dishes on the Christmas table,” Drew says. There has also been increasing interest in Californian wines this year, where producers such as Philip Togni Vineyard, a popular Napa Valley-based winery, are creating some excellent Cabernet Sauvignons.

“Our US offering keeps expanding, and our Tensley wines are particularly exciting as they offer not just great expressions of Santa Barbara fruit, but are brilliant value as well,” Drew adds. “And I’m always excited about Italy too; again, we have a broader range of producers this year, and everything from juicy, easy drinking Freisa to age-worthy single vineyard Barolos for gifting.”

Festive cheer: shoppers are already stocking up on special bottles for the big dayBBR has also been seeing increasing customer interest in the Loire Valley on the back of its recent Loire en primeur campaign, as well as the boost provided to its wine range from new producers.

“There’s a freshness to the Loire wines, and the bottles are so incredible with food, with both the Chenins and Cabernet Francs making a great match for turkey and heartier fish dishes too,” Drew explains.

‘There’s a freshness to the Loire wines, and the bottles are so incredible with food’

The Rhône, Italy and Spain also come into their own at this time of year, says Majestic’s Newman. She highlights old customer favourites such as Domaine Roux St Aubin premier cru, Château Batailley and Rioja Ardanza Reserva, but also some of the newer additions, including Giacomo Fenocchio’s Barolos. “Our buyers have also done a lot of great work to premiumise other categories outside of fine wine, and give our customers accessible options to trade up to something a little bit special at Christmas without breaking the bank,” Newman adds.

“I think that’s really important at the moment, given some of the pressures on consumer spending. There are some fantastic examples in Gavi and Primitivo, for instance, where we have introduced more premium options that we think will become really popular over the next few weeks.”

FESTIVE FIZZ

In terms of fizz, Christmas is the biggest time for Champagne. And, while the grandes marques are always popular, Berry Bros. & Rudd reports that it is also starting to see more customers focusing on both prestige cuvées and smaller, artisan Champagne producers (see feature, pages 70-78).

“Often we’ll see both styles in the same order,” Drew points out, “with a case of grande marque Champagne – perhaps for a party – and then a few bottles of older vintage Champagne by a grower such as Leclerc-Briant. These bottles are often saved for a smaller gathering, or chosen specifically to pair with food.”

Happy days: retailers are focusing on quality and value this year

The interest in artisan Champagne has exploded over the last few years, agrees Burke-Gaffney and, despite the difficulties of the market, it is a trend that has continued at a pace.

“Philipponnat, Paillard and Dehours have all been reaping the benefits of this demand for carefully crafted Champagnes that have vineyard or regional identity,” he reports.

Waitrose is also expecting a big Christmas for Champagne sales, which it said had shown no signs of declining in stores after a tough year in 2023. The retailer has added the Penfolds Brut Champagne to its offering, which it is expecting to offer a point of difference, particularly for gifting, as it is being sold in a bright red gift box. Waitrose’s strong record in vintage Champagne – it has by far the largest share on the UK high street – as well as crémant, bodes well for fizz sales this festive season.

‘The thing I’m most excited about this Christmas isn’t a wine or a spirit, but a tea’

But it is not all about French sparkling, of course – English sparkling continues to grow in popularity. “Our range of English sparkling wines continues to get better and better,” Newman notes. “And we know this is a category our customers really buy into and champion at Christmas time.”

And the category for bubbles is widening further still – perhaps from a surprising angle. As Drew explains: “The thing I’m most excited about this Christmas isn’t a wine or a spirit, but a tea.”

BBR’s new sparkling tea by The Real Co., launched in time for Christmas, is the merchant’s first non-alcoholic offering under its Own Selection range.

Anecdotally, the elegant, kombucha-derived drink has already proved very popular, with the team reportedly having sold through more than one-third of the first batch and looking at ordering more. “It’s taken quite a while for us to create a product we are really proud to put our name on – but it means that we really do have something for everyone in our offering this Christmas,” Drew says. Sparkling tea is also proving popular at Fortnum & Mason. Wine & spirits buyer Oscar Dodd told db recently that the retailer ’s own offer, which is made by Copenhagen Sparkling Tea, represented more than one in five of all sparkling options sold at the luxury retailer, including Champagne, sparkling wines and sparkling tea. It’s proved so popular that the London store is stocking it in a new magnum format, and plans to launch it in half-bottles later in 2025.