Cellaring your wine with Davy’s

In our traditional Victorian wine cellars in Greenwich we have been looking after our customers wines for generations.  As the cellars are located below ground level fluctuations in temperature are minimal, there is no natural light and no vibrations from adjoining buildings.  Monitored for humidity and temperature your collection will be maintained in optimum conditions.  We appraise your cellar on a yearly basis offering recommendations and professional advice.

If you would like to know more about starting a cellar or charges related to this please contact us and a member of the team will be pleased to help 020 8858 6011.

Should you prefer to store your wines at home please read through the ‘How to Store your wine’ section below so that your wines are kept at their best.

How to store your wine

Wine should be stored correctly to keep it at its optimum.

For long term storage wines should be kept in a consistently cool temperature, ideally between 10°C and 15°C.

Wines should be stored on their side to ensure that the cork remains in contact with the wine. If the cork dries out, air may get in and oxidise the wine.

Wines should be stored in dark cool conditions with no vibrations to agitate the wine.

Wines should also be kept away from any vibrations and stored as still as possible.

Decanting your wine

Many wines bought today are designed for early consumption and might not need decanting however may still benefit from the aeration decanting provides. The primary function of decanting is to allow the wine to be separated from any sediment that may be present but also for it to come into contact with the air which releases aromas and encourages the wine to ‘open up’ which means all of the flavours and aromas can be appreciated.

Vintage ports and older red wines will be most likely to throw some sediment. It is extremely important to store your wines undisturbed and in a cool dark environment. Prior to decanting your chosen wine should be placed upright for several hours, ideally overnight, this will allow as much of the sediment to filter down to the base of the bottle making the decanting process more effective.

If you wish to decant a wine you do not necessarily need a decanter. Wine can be poured into any vessel, then carefully rinse out the original bottle with water and then pour the wine back in, minus the sediment. Some people prefer this method as serving a very old wine from its original bottle is part of the charm. White wines can also benefit from decanting but it is much more rare to see it done.

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How to decant your wine

Preparation is key when decanting, make sure the wine has been standing upright for several hours, ideally over night, before you begin.

A clean suitably large vessel will be needed to decant the wine into, a jug, decanter or another clean bottle.
Remove the capsule and dust away any stray bits of cork.
Using a good corkscrew (one with a long worm is best) remove the cork.
If you are opening a very old bottle of wine the cork may be very crumbly. If this is the case simply push the cork into the bottle rather than pulling small fragments of cork out.
If decanting a Vintage port the glass can be almost black and very hard to see through. It is recommended that a candle is placed parallel to the neck of the bottle so that you can see through the neck and tell when the sediment starts to escape as you pour off the wine (a good torch will also do).
Once the cork has been removed carefully begin to pour in a slow steady motion. A funnel may be useful. When nearing the end of the bottle sediment may begin to appear this is when you should stop pouring.

Once decanted pour off a sample to taste and check the wine. It will be interesting to see how the wine changes while airing before it is drunk.
Leave the decanted wine to breathe prior to serving.
If you are decanting a number of wines it can be useful to label the wines so that they can be easily identified later on.

Always check the wine to see that it is not corked. Avoid pouring more than one bottle into each decanter as there is often bottle variation in older wines. Worse still you may pour corked wine over good wine.

View our range of glassware.

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What is en primeur?

What is en primeur?

Click here to view our latest en primeur offers

En primeur, or opening offer wines, refers to the release and sale of wine by growers and their merchants before they are bottled and ready to be physically delivered. The key places that are regularly involved in this process are Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône; and Portugal offering Vintage Port. The wines themselves are delivered some time after the en primeur sale during which time the wines complete the maturation process, often in barrels. They are then bottled before finally being shipped by the merchant and so become available to the customer. The customer can then elect to take delivery or arrange suitable storage.

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How does it work?

Generally wine merchants will be invited to taste wines while they are still maturing in the barrel, and some time before they are ready to drink. Although the wines will taste very young, the merchant’s experience enables them to try and predict how the raw wine that they are tasting will develop as it evolves and matures. Even at this early stage we can judge whether the wine is worth the price that the grower is asking for it. The wine merchant offers the wines it selects to customers in the form of a promise to deliver that wine later, at a fixed price now. This price excludes UK Excise Duty and VAT. If the customer chooses to buy, he pays the merchant and an invoice is raised which states that the customer has a right to the wine at a future date. Often merchants issue annual statements confirming the ownership of the wines that have been paid for, with an estimate of when the wines are likely be delivered to the UK.

When the merchant receives the bottled wine, the customer has various options. He can take personal delivery, pay the UK Excise Duty and VAT and store, drink or sell the wines as he chooses. Many customers prefer to have the wine stored by merchants or specialists rather than at home. This can be “under bond” which means that the payment of Duty and VAT is delayed while the wine is in a properly registered and controlled warehouse. Other merchants ask their customers to pay the Duty and VAT when the wine arrives in the UK regardless of whether they take personal delivery or store the wine with them.

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Why buy en primeur?

Demand for some wines can exceed their supply, and it is possible that all of a grower’s wine is sold before it is bottled. It can then be very difficult or expensive to obtain that wine at a later stage. In addition, buying en primeur gives assurances about the provenance, since the customer is effectively buying directly from the grower. The customer can also be certain of the conditions in which it is stored; buying at a later stage, perhaps when the wine is ready to drink many years later, does not enable control of these conditions. The customer also has the ability to specify the bottle size. Finally, it has been the case that fine wine, in limited supply, has increased in price. Customers have been able to sell at a profit. It must be said, however, that there is no guarantee of this, and the price of wine (as in the case of many other assets) can fall as well as rise.

On the other hand there are risks and costs associated with buying wine en primeur. The first of these is that the wine may not turn out to be as good as projected by the merchant. Secondly, money is tied up while the wine matures when it could be earning interest. Thirdly, money has been paid to a merchant, and by the merchant to a grower, without taking possession of the product itself.

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Why do producers sell en primeur?

The big advantage for producers is liquidity. Without this early sale they would require more capital to finance their operations without income for several years. Selling en primeur means better cash flow.

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When are en primeur wines delivered?

This varies by region. The largest region is Bordeaux and the en primeur offer of the previous years vintage is typically made in June of the following year. Delivery of the bottled wine will then take place 18 months to two years later (i.e. about 2½ years after the harvest or vintage).

Some customers will pay Duty and VAT shortly after the wines arrive in the UK; others will delay this payment and may even sell the wine without paying Duty and VAT (in other words while it is still stored in bond).

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When is payment due?

This varies by region. The largest region is Bordeaux and the en primeur offer of the previous years vintage is typically made in June of the following year. Delivery of the bottled wine will then take place 18 months to two years later (i.e. about 2½ years after the harvest or vintage).

Subject to a wine merchant’s terms and conditions, payment is due when the customer’s order is accepted by the merchant. Some merchants have closing dates for their en primeur campaigns, and if demand exceeds supply they will allocate the wine, perhaps by ballot. Other merchants sell on a “first come, first served” basis. In all cases payment is a significant time before delivery.

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Is there a risk?

Wine prices can fall as well as rise. Wines can turn out to be less attractive than expected. In addition there is a clear risk in paying for a product which is delivered a considerable time later, and there have been instances where a merchant has sold more wine than he has managed to obtain from the grower. Some people will then be disappointed! There have also been bankruptcies of merchants or growers between the time of payment and delivery of the wine, and as a consequence customers have not been able to obtain delivery of the wine that they paid for. It is also possible that a grower oversells his output, and when the time comes to deliver is not able to do so, despite having been paid by the merchant.
There have been instances of fraud and non-delivery of wine, despite the payment and contracts.
The safeguard against risk is to deal with a reputable merchant, and if in doubt feel free to ask any questions that may assist in this check. Davy’s Wine Merchants (Davy & Co Ltd) will be very happy to answer any questions you may have.

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