A little chat with John Martin of that wondeful little wine merchant, Cooden Cellars, hanging out down Eastbourne way…
What are your specialisations?
We try to offer the customer a wide choice of wines from all around the world. As well as all the usual countries, we also stock a wide range from Greece.
A country whose wines most people consider to often be poor is actually producing some stunning stuff; you just have to know where to look. Of course there’s no need to look any further than Cooden Cellars, because we have sought them out for you!
We also offer regular wine tasting evenings on a range of themes. We have a wine school where you can take a simple one evening course right through to a full modular course.
We will shortly be starting food and wine matching courses too which will involve cooking the food as well as tasting the wine.
A wine club is also available which offers excellent discounts on our full range of wines and a set of tasting notes are supplied with each case.
Your main loves?
We have a love for any wine that has been made with passion, dedication, has character, and offers a true taste of where the wine comes from.
Which one wine from your list would you offer me as a customer?
One wine we have that stands up to the criteria mentioned above and is a simply stunning value wine is the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Tinpot Hut, New Zealand.
Following on from the amazing first vintage (2006) of this wine, this explodes on the palate with all the fruit you could want – lime, gooseberry, elderflower, and more leading to a dry finish.
The winemaker, Fiona Turner, has worked with Matt Thomson on many of the most successful wines made in Marlborough and sourced the fruit for this wine primarily from her own vineyard in Blind River and combined it with grapes from other carefully selected local sites to produce a stunning wine.
What do you offer over and above the supermarkets?
We offer true, helpful, qualified advice. Our wines have all been tasted by us. It is the only way we would sell a wine. Quality control is vital, and you can only achieve this through actually tasting what you sell.
Our wines have real people behind them, not just huge faceless corporations.
We offer wines with real character. They do not have to be expensive, we have wine from £3.99 upwards, but the wine should still offer a good flavour profile and not simply taste the same as half the other wines on the shelf.
Who are your main competitors?
Other independent wine merchants offering a similar service and range to us. After this the high street chains such as Threshers are probably our closest competitors in terms of how the consumer views them and us.
How many web orders do you receive each day?
We have only had our full online buying facility available for a short time, so with the marketing we are doing we hope to increase our online order significantly in the near future.
Cooden Cellars
14 Grand Hotel Buildings
Compton Street
Eastbourne
