Wedding wines where to start?

patmahe

Hi All,

Just wondering what people do about wedding wines, is it still worth going abroad or up the North or has Irelands new found status of being broke led to good good deals on wedding wines being available here? If so where can the best deals be found?

Basically I'm looking for ideas, so what did/are you do/ing and how did it work out.

Cheers in advance

keyboardcook

Is it safe to assume that your venue lets you bring your own wine?

patmahe

Hi yeah forgot to mention, we can supply our own wine so we want to consider the options.

keyboardcook

And is there corkage charge?

patmahe

Yep unfortunately we couldn't negotiate around the corkage

So any contacts so we can get an idea of whether its worth our while or not?

henryporter

Get screw tops to avoid the corkage charge . It all depends on how much you're buying, what your budget is etc. Should be able to get good deals through a wine merchant if buying enough.

Cicero

In fairness there's some great wines out there right now_ both red and white - reduced to 7 euro....For example Super Valu have La Chasse Blousson D'Or going for 6.99 with an additional 5 euro off for every 6 you buy..excellent value- they have any number of white wines for the same price or less...there was a time about 5 years ago that a bottle of wine in a French supermarket would be about 1/3 the price of that in an Irish one but theres many more bargains these days..

keyboardcook

Okay. What you need o do is see if the cost of the wine plus corkage is worth all the hassle.

All products for sale in the Hospitality industry are sold on a percentage basis, and wine is no exception.

I think if you examine the figures closely, it will only be start to be worth the hassle for wines that would normally retail in the Hotel at about €21 and above.

So, for house wine, it may not be worth it.

As I do not know wht your corkage is exactly, above is an average calculation, so do your own maths.

When it comes to purchasing wines, then bypass the majority of your Retail Off Licenses (unless you have a particularly good relationship with one).

Chains like O'Briens are importers as well as retailers, so it would be well worth checking them out for bulk quantity discounts (don't forget to get a loyalty card- could be a lot of money back).

I find the problem with supermarket chains is how hey treat the wine. No care and slap dash. Out of the container and onto the shelves without any resting period for the wine itself.

Look at other wholesalers- Findlaters etc and see if they are approachable.

Once you have a price for a wine you like, shop around. You may find that the importers here have negotiated for the wholesale market up North, so you may not expect to get that great a discount- but do bear in mind that a very very large percentage of what we pay on wine in the republic is A)Excise Duty and then B)Vat on top of the excise duty and cost per bottle.

Also, look at your menu. The general rule is white for fish, red for meat. Again, if you find someone good at the point of sale, they will help you match a wine for a course.

One last point is to check that the corkage price you have been quoted in inclusive of VAT.

Hope this helps.

kc

ABajaninCork

Personally, I don't think BYO is such a good idea. Frequently, it can work out much more expensive, and a lot more hassle. But - if you want to BYO, I agree with the last poster, but would also suggest:

Getting the wine from a wine merchant, sale or return.

Who's going to count the wine in & out? Can you rely on the venue to do that? Will they charge you storage if you leave any extras over until you return from honeymoon or arrange collection?

Are you getting Champagne/Sparkling wine for the toast? Corkage will cost more if that's the case.

I'd draft out some costings - bottles of venues house white/red which doesn't carry corkage; vs Time/cost of sourcing your own, plus corkage.

It's late, and I'm sure I've left out some important points, but if I think of any more, I'll post them up.

silly

Check out www.curiouswines.ie
I used these guys and they offered a great service.

squidgy10

Bought our wedding wine in the Superquinn French wine sale 2 years ago. Got some really nice stuff for half price. Dont know how up to date that flyer is, its just give an idea.

http://www.superquinn.ie/app_themes/SuperquinnCorp/images/4_our%20wine/French%20Spring%20Wine%202011%20Web.pdf

Gatica

cases.ie in the west of Ireland supplies decent range of wines starting at about 6 Euro I think. They deliver in the west for free and accept undamaged returns too. We're planning on going with them for our wedding.
It's worth for the choice of wine and even with corkage still save on house wine cost.

bogwalrus

I just opened a wine shop in macroom called the grape escape. We deal with small irish importers so can offer you a selection of quality wines at a great discount. Pm me if you would like me to send you a list with prices and discounts etc.

Boggy

handlemaster

bogwalrus wrote: »

I just opened a wine shop in macroom called the grape escape. We deal with small irish importers so can offer you a selection of quality wines at a great discount. Pm me if you would like me to send you a list with prices and discounts etc.

Boggy

Hi do you still have this shop running?