The dust is yet to settle, but it is already apparent that 2009 was the most successful year (and Christmas trading period) to date for the team at Roberson Wine. Obviously we are all delighted, especially as this time last year it was nigh on impossible to find anyone that was feeling positive about life on the high street.

The big project behind the scenes this year has been working more directly and establishing relationships with growers and domaines. It has been a pleasure (and an adventure) getting over to France and meeting winemakers that have added enormously to the wines on offer at Roberson. The fruits of these forays have already started to filter through on to the shop floor (and wine lists at some of London’s best restaurants) but it is also a case of ‘watch this space’ as we have some very interesting wines set to arrive in the new year.

Highlight of the year:

On a personal level, and I would like to think for the company and our customers too, it has to be the November trip to Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. Myself and Joe spent a week driving thousands of miles and tasting hundreds of wines across two of France’s most important winemaking areas with the goal of finding enough gems to make the trip worthwhile.

And we did. There was a feeling of elation after tasting at domaines like Marc Colin, Thomas Morey, Hubert Chavy, Goubert and Marc Sorrel. All were fantastic for different reasons, but knowing that you have either secured an allocation of spectacular wine or ‘discovered’ a producer that isn’t represented in the UK was a great feeling.

Best wine under £10:

Has to be 2007 Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains from Domaine Dupont-Tisserandot, as predicted this time last year. Possibly the best example I’ve tasted of this rarely seen appellation and such a versatile wine that sales have been consistent right through the year. Let’s hope the 2008 picks up where the ’07 left off!

2007 ‘La Dame’ from Mas des Dames has also been a resounding success and one of the best selling wines in the shop since its arrival in late summer. I don’t remember seeing a wine become so popular, so quickly with regular customers.

Another great seller for us this year and arguably the best value wine in the shop was 2008 Falerio from Saladini Pilastri. This fresh and crisp white wine from North-Eastern Italy stole the show at our ‘Summer Open Evening’ tasting – which is not surprising considering how good it is for only £7.95. As the weather warms up we expect sales for Falerio to take off again.

Special mentions must also go to 2007 Coteaux-du-Giennois by Guy Saget, 2007 ‘Les Nuages’ Pinot Noir and 2008 Sangiovese I.G.T from Castello Querceto.

Best wine under £20:

When you taste and sell as many different wines as we do at Roberson, it is easy to forget the classics – those wines that have graced the shelves for many years and provide the backdrop to all the small parcels and ‘flavours of the month’ that come and go. One of these is getting better and better every year (to be expected from decent claret, I suppose): 2001 Château de Candale Haut-Médoc. Peak drinking right now and still a bargain, many of our regular customers have been lucky enough to chart the progress of this delicious wine since we started stocking the ’01 vintage a couple of years ago.

One of my wines of the year was 2003 Le Soula Blanc by Roussillon legend Gerard Gauby. Mineral laden, fresh as a daisy and almost salty, it took me a few minutes to decide whether I loved it or hated it. Once I’d decided that I loved it I couldn’t get enough and to be honest I think it was a wine that opened my mind (and palate) a little more. The oxidative aspect takes a little getting used to, but now im well and truly sold on southern French whites.

Finally, the bargain of the year has to be 2005 ‘Bien Nacido’ Syrah from Qupé, which we were selling for £18.95. It was absolutely superb and one of those wines where it was sad to see the final bottle leave.

Best wine under £60:

So many candidates to choose from here, but one of the better ones was 1985 Côte-Rotie ‘Brune et Blonde’ from Guigal. We sat around after the Sylvain Cathiard tasting to serve this blind and were very impressed with how concentrated it was, with most of the group guessing it was far younger than its 25 years. Superb stuff for £47.95.

Another stunning bargain that was surprisingly fresh was 1970 Muga Rioja Reserva. At £29.95 this was worth a punt and it proved to be absolutely delicious. In actual fact, I drank this at home with my parents (they are avid Muga drinkers) and it went down a treat.

Finally, one of my favourite winemakers in the world – 1997 Barbaresco Santo Stefano by Bruno Giacosa for £59.95. Needless to say that the 6 bottles we bought lasted all of 5 minutes although one of those was consumed by me, Gav and friends over dinner. Absolutely delicious and one of my wines of the year.

Best wine from the fine wine tastings:

Always a difficult one. Last year one of my votes was 2000 Romanee-St-Vivant by Sylvain Cathiard. Well we had it again as part of the Cathiard tasting and it was every bit as good as the year before. The Barolo v Barbaresco 1998 tasting was one of the best in terms of the overall standard of the wines and 1998 Barolo ‘Rocche del Falletto’ by Bruno Giacosa was jaw-droppingly good. 1974 Vega Sicilia Unico was just one of a collection of spectacular wines at the Vega Sicilia tasting and the 1961 Leoville-Barton was a great way to end a wonderful tasting of Anthony Barton’s wines.  A special mention should go to 1998 Grange des Peres Blanc, which I and a couple of others at the Languedoc Icons tasting thought was superb.

However, if I had to choose one I think it would have to be 1979 Echezeaux from DRC. The ’69 was also fantastic, but the extra life in the ’79 added to the depth of complexity made it a memorable wine indeed.

Worst wine from the fine wine tastings:

There were a few duds to be honest, although that is to be expected when you take a few risks and try and create ‘interesting’ tastings. 2004 Echezeaux from Confuron-Cotetidot was a shocker, but perhaps a casualty of the vintage more than a reflection of the grower. 2004 Hermitage ‘La Chapelle’ from Jaboulet was punching well below its weight and 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon from Dunn Vineyards was perhaps the stingiest wine of the year.

The winner (or loser) though had to be 1995 Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru ‘Cros Parantoux’ from Meo-Camuzet. It split the group between those that loved it and loathed it, although there were definitely more in the second camp. Complex? Hidden depth? Maybe, but it just seemed dusty, musty and devoid of any interest to me which would be a shame if I’d stumped up the £500+ out of my own pocket.

Highlight of the fine wine tastings:

Staying behind after the ‘Burgundy Promotion/Demotion’ tasting to drink 1990 Meursault from Coche-Dury with a group of like-minded wine folk. Probably the best wine tasting experience I’ve ever had.

Best red/white of 2009:

The best wines I drunk all year, anywhere? 1998 Richebourg by Domaine Leroy and 1990 Meursault from Coche-Dury.

Wines we could’ve sold out 10 times over:

The aforementioned 1997 Barbaresco Santo Stefano by Bruno Giacosa and 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape from Château Fortia. The Giacosa disappeared in record time, whereas the Fortia sat there until a few people had tried it and then we almost had a fight over who got the buy the rest.

Also, 2008 Mas des Dames Rosé. I only bought 5 cases of this when we began working with the domaine and they were sold within a week – that was in August and we haven’t seen it since, although the 2009 should be here in the next few months. I’ll be sure to reserve more next time….

Wine that nobody wanted to buy:

2008 Monty’s Red. Last year I wrote “We sold every bottle we had after the last episode of the series but people are still asking for the stuff. Amazing what a bit of TV coverage can achieve”.

Unfortunately it is also amazing what a lack of TV coverage can achieve. Candidate for the January bin-end sale?

Most interesting visitors to the shop:

As usual lots of fascinating wine personalities took part in our tastings – Jancis Robinson, Michael Broadbent, Neal Martin, Steven Spurrier, Julia Harding to name but a few. It is always great to welcome experts like this to our events as they add so much to the experience for the rest of us tasters. Let’s hope that we see more of them all next year!

In terms of winemakers, the guys from Frog’s Leap in California were wonderful company and we had great fun with them at an instore tasting for the staff. Sebastiano Rosa from Sassicaia was honest, candid and very very interesting.

Best of all though had to be Paul Draper. An absolute gentleman and legend of the wine trade.

Biggest disagreement between the team on a wine:

We were actually pretty close on most things this year. There was the 1997 Clarenden Hills Merlot that Joe and Ben loved but Cliff hated. And there was the Charles Joguet Chinons that Joe hated but I loved.

Perhaps the biggest chasm came over the wines of La Peira, a new icon domaine in the Languedoc with massive Parker scores (well, Schildknecht scores). I think their wines are stunning and some of the most exciting I tasted all year. Joe thought they were over made. We had their top wine from ’06 at the stars of the Languedoc tasting and the group was split. Half on my side, half on Joe’s!

Most embarrassing moment:

The moment when me and Joe arrived at the new Vincent Jaboulet domaine in the Rhône Valley.

Vincent is a big man (with a big moustache) and comes from one of the most important families in wine so I was relishing the opportunity to meet him and make another prestigious contact in the wine world. Joe stepped forward with his best ‘bonjour’ and a shake of the hand. I followed behind expecting a similar greeting, when out of the blue he grabbed me by the cheeks and exclaimed to all in the vicinity that ‘you have the head of a baby!’ while shaking me back and forth.

From what I can gather, he was somewhat surprised that a man of my tender age (6months apparently) was legally allowed to buy wine!

Predictions for 2010:

1) Sales of Mas des Dames to continue upward. I am convinced that this domaine will become a Roberson Wine stalwart over the next few years – they are already heralded as one of the most exciting estates in France and next year we will be adding the white wine to the two reds and the rosé. There will also be magnums and at some point a top-secret wine made from the oldest vines at the domaine (it is still ageing in barrel and has no name at this point). Definitely more to come from Mas des Dames.

2) Beaujolais to gain increasing credibility. I have been known in Roberson circles for my dislike of Bojo for some time, but recently the noise coming from a lot of artisanal producers in the top villages has got too loud to ignore. I think that top quality Beaujolais from small producers will take off in a big way over the next few years and that will start in 2010.

3) 2009 Bordeaux to be BIG. The ground is already shaking on the run-up to the biggest en primeur campaign since ’05. Hype or not, the big spenders will be out in force for this one.

4) People to spend more. We’ve definitely felt the purse strings loosening over the last few months and that will continue in 2010. I think people are sick of austerity and while it will be years before we get back to where we were, the smiles are starting to creep back on to people’s faces.

5) England to win the world cup! I think we’ve genuinely got a chance this time, although it has more to do with the lack of top drawer opposition than us being world beaters. Get the champagne on ice!

Good luck for the year ahead and happy drinking!