'Customers yearned to drink wines they could understand and talk about'

WHEN the next phase of Morrisons' revised wine strategy begins tomorrow, the focus switches from products to the customers themselves. New material will provide shoppers with more guidance, especially in matching wine with food.

The hardware part includes upgraded shelf labels but employee development is even more important. In time, substantially more staff will be able to support the beer, wine and spirits managers, who themselves have all been through professional-level tADVERTISEMENT raining.

The story began, however, two or three years ago when several new faces, including wine trading manager Arabella Woodrow, joined the buying team and began a detailed analysis of customer feedback. It was clear that purchasers valued expertise and were sufficiently anxious to exude it that they admitted to exaggerating their own knowledge from time to time.

When probed, however, they tended to stumble – with over half of those interviewed not sure whether chablis was a grape variety or a region. The conclusion had to be that customers yearned to drink wines they could understand, talk about and buy with confidence but needed the help of someone they could trust to find them. If wine buyers could assemble a range that navigated the maze for them then, amazingly, 85 per cent said they were prepared to pay up to £7 a bottle, when the national average is around a fiver.

Although the supermarket chain had previously feared own-label wines created a downmarket perception, here were shoppers who regarded the company's signature as an important sign of its confidence in the product. Even more attractive to the strategists was the call for greater links between wine and food.

The result was a range of 54 wines that absorbed some existing lines but introduced a number of new ones and used a colour-coded band to signal the three classic marketing layers – premium (gold), standard (black) and value (white). Although the focus can be expected to shift away from discounting towards own-label wines, they will never totally supplant it. The gravitational pull of "half price" offers remains strong for the numerous grab-and-go shoppers.

The inexpensive end of the range is essentially "Monday to Friday" wine for informal drinking. It contains, for instance, a soft Australian chardonnay (£4.49) that combines ripe melon fruit enlivened by attractive touches of fresh grapefruit but with minimal oak. Another example is the dark, slightly minty 2009 Italian chianti (£4.99) with firm damson fruit, a mild perception of sweetness and just the right degree of tannic grip at the end to work well with food.

The premium range has absorbed some of the previous "The Best" brands. Here, you can find a pear and green apple 2009 chablis (£9.15) along with "The Best" brut champagne at £19.99. This has a slightly more savoury finish than many champagnes but toADVERTISEMENT pped the list in last year's quest by Which? magazine for the "best tasting" supermarket champagne.
It was, however, in the mid-priced group that I found the most wines that live up to aim to "over deliver on value". Among the whites is an excellent, fresh 2009 sauvignon blanc Touraine (£6.29) that has all the balance and length necessary to provide the perfect riposte to the more showy New Zealand versions. Although it shares their gooseberry flavours, these are milder and are supplemented by some beautiful yet subtle floral, lemon touches.

The 2009 The Best Gavi (£7.49) is more rounded with juicy apple, orange and kiwi fruit influences to mingle with its concluding flinty minerality. Another impressive Italian, a red this time, is 2008 Valpolicella Ripasso (£6.99). The ripasso technique passes basic valpolicella over skins used for amarone to produce wine with dense cherry and mocha flavours and lovely smooth texture.

Another star among the reds is the splendid 2006 Vina Eneldo Rioja Crianza (£7.49) that combines velvety spiciness, lively acidity and intense, leafy blackcurrant fruit.

These examples illustrate why the team has such confidence in the range that there is even talk of a "love this wine or your money back" offer.

Best buys

Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne NV France, 12 per cent Ever-reliable champagne with excellent balance, lively lemon acidity and a light, slightly nutty, finish. £20.99 (down from £26.99 until 15 March), Tesco

2009 Taste the Difference Cotes du Rhone Village Southern Rhone, France, 14.5 per cent Superbly balanced, combining attractive damson and bramble flavours with a touch of spicy liquorice. £6.15, Sainsbury's

2010 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand, 13.5 per cent Beautifully rounded with touches of lime, kiwi and white currant to mellow the usual fresh, citrus flavours. £8.49, Majestic (instead of £10.99) when you buy two