In Praise of Champagne Socialism!

I am sure many readers of the Morning Star have been accused of being the proverbial Bollinger Bolshevik because they perhaps have a taste for the very best in food and wine. It is funny how many TV chefs trek half way across Europe to eat the food of peasants. I wonder if it is to escape the processed pap they help the supermarkets to sell to millions of us Brits! The TV advertisers tell us it is traditional or just as good as mother used to make but nothing could be further from the truth. There is no greater pleasure than sharing a meal, of good food and good wine, in good company. The tragedy is that unlike in most other European countries where people are closer to the land because of our early start at industrialisation and the consequent land clearances most Brits have long since lost contact with the place where their food and drink actually comes from. I well remember my first visit to the Fete de Humanite the newspaper of the Communist Party of France. Each region of the Party had a tent with a bar and restaurant selling its own particular regional speciality and the Communist Party’s from other countries had similar stalls. I particularly enjoyed those of Italy, Spain and Portugal. I can still remember the Portuguese stand with its grilled sardines and Douro wine; it makes my mouth water to think of it. One refuge from this blandness and an escape to world of the very best wine at very reasonable prices is to loin the Wine Society. WHICH readers proclaim it to be the very best of wine club voting it head and shoulders above all the others. Last Christmas I bought my wife a share in the Society, she is half Spanish, and is particularly fond of the albarino wines of the Rias Baixas area in North West Spain, which can be hard to come by. I must admit she went a bit mad with her first order delivered in the Society’s own van. “Never mind”, I said, “I will help you to get rid of it”! Unlike other clubs the Society is a genuine co-operative with a rather interesting pedigree. For the last of the Great Exhibitions, in 1874, various countries sent large quantities of wine in cask to be stored in the cellars of the Albert Hall where according to the early history of the society, ‘it entirely escaped notice from visitors’. The Portuguese growers appealed for help, step forward Major-General Henry Scott, one of the architects of the hall who held a series of lunches to publicise the wines. Many guests expressed an interest in buying the wine and Scott proposed the setting up of “a co-operative company” to buy good quality wines and sell on a regular basis to members. The International Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society Limited was born. This months AGM will be the 138th year the Society has reported to its members. It is still owned solely by them (one share each) and trades exclusively with them and there are a clear majority of elected members, 8 out of 13, on the board. The focus however is the same as it has always been and that is to make available to members the best quality of wine and service at the best possible price. The society sells only to members and a lifetime share costs just £40 with no annual fee or obligation to purchase and what’s more new members get a credit of £10 to their account to help with their first purchase. The Society’s wine buyers cover the world looking for excellence in every price bracket. Prices start as low as £5 a bottle. Whilst of course they carry all the classics from Claret to Burgundy and the Rhone the current range of 1,500 wines enables members to explore less well known wines if I am beginning to sound like their marketing manager it is because the more members the lower the costs! As the society measures success in member satisfaction at the beginning of this year they reduced over 300 prices and there where no price increases. Because they are a co-op they where able to reduce margins and reinvest previous year’s profits back into the society. 2011 was a tough year with a VAT increase, volatile exchange rates and members feeling the pinch and trading down. So despite the highest ever case sales, over 600,000 to 110,000 members, the deliberate reduction in margin meant that gross turnover only slightly increased to £69.2million. They have declared a 2% dividend which is to be retained within the business to continue to improve the service which includes free delivery on cases of twelve bottles. The price and quality of wine from the IWC is second to none and according to the chair Sarah Evans, who spoke at this years co-operative retail conference, this is thanks to its mutual, co-operative, status, “the buyers are not tasked with meeting specific selling prices and profit margins set by commercial priorities, but with finding high quality, interesting, value-for-money wines from around the world at all price levels. Member satisfaction is paramount, maximising profit is not.” They must be doing something right. Despite the fact they do not advertise membership grew last year by 13,269! As I write we have just taken delivery of a case of white sauvignons for summer which I can tell you we will enjoy drinking even if it never stops raining!