Berrys' own wines - The philosophy behind our range
Consumers who are uncertain about buying products in an unfamiliar category often seek reassurance by purchasing a known brand. With the exception of Champagne, wine is not a heavily branded product category, with literally thousands of different names from all around the world jostling for recognition.
The establishment of the Berrys’ Own range is our attempt to bring order and reassurance to the confusion; we select wines which are benchmark examples of their region, and not necessarily at entry-level prices, as would usually be the case with supermarket own-label products.
Most wines are sourced from individual growers who exemplify the high-quality standards which Berry’s espouse, and they can be purchased with total confidence as excellent representations of the appellation on the label. In summary, the Berrys’ Own wine range is one upon which you, as a consumer, can rely with total confidence. Suppliers are regularly reviewed, and often changed, in order to ensure that complacency never creeps in.
The Berrys’ Own range seeks to cover the best-known appellations from the world’s wine regions rather than focus on the more obscure; for the more adventurous our regular wine selection champions all sorts of exciting wines from lesser-known regions so provides a wonderful hunting ground for those seeking new discoveries.
Mark Pardoe MW, Wine Buying Director
Good Ordinary Claret
The first table wine was Good Ordinary Claret, a Bordeaux blend named with typical British understatement, which made its appearance in 1974. 31-years later we decided to broaden the Bordeaux range, with a delicious château-bottled Graves launched under the logical name of Extraordinary Claret.
Berrys' Own Bordeaux Range
This was followed by a series of wines covering the premium appellations of Bordeaux, namely Pauillac, St Estephe, St Julien, Margaux, St Emilion, Pomerol and Sauternes. Each comes from a premium château, and is often the second wine of that property. To complete the Bordeaux range we now offer a Good Ordinary White as a juicy, Sauvignon-based partner to the Claret.
Berrys' Own White Burgundy Range
In France we offer a White Burgundy from Jean-Luc Terrier, a top producer in the Mâconnais, and a domaine wine from each of the three great white villages, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet, from, respectively, Patrick Javillier, Alain Chavy and Jean-Claude Bachelet.
Berrys' Own Red Burgundy Range
Red Burgundy at a modest price is impossible to find, so instead we have chosen a superior wine, labelled Extraordinary Red Burgundy, sourced from the dynamic rising star, Nicolas Potel, and three top village wines, namely Nuits St Georges, Gevrey Chambertin and Beaune, chosen from as respected a trio of growers as you could wish to find, Benjamin Leroux, Nicolas Rossignol-Trapet and David Croix.
Berrys' Own Champagnes & Sparkling
In Champagne we have established the trademark United Kingdon Cuvée for our range, which now embraces four wines. Such are the volumes we now sell that using a small grower as a supplier is not feasible, other than for the Rosé, which comes from Benoît Marguet in Ambonnay on the Montagne de Reims.
We also offer a wonderful champagne alternative in our Crémant de Limoux, a sparkling wine made by a native of Champagne, Jean-Louis Denois.
The Non-Vintage, Vintage and Blanc de Blancs Champagne come from two of the most highly respected co-operatives in the region. Mailly and Le Mesnil. All four Champagnes are labelled Grand Cru, a designation only accorded to Champagnes coming from the most highly-rated Champagne villages which are scored as 100 on the Echelle de Crus rating system.
Berrys' Own Range from the rest of France
Our Chablis is a steely, minerally crisp example, totally unoaked, while from the Rhône valley we offer an exemplary Côtes de Rhône, full of brambly, spicy, rich, dark fruit, and a Châteauneuf-du-Pape which is a harmonious blend of all four sub-districts of this famous appellation.
Elsewhere in France we offer a classic, flinty, gooseberry-scented Sancerre from David Sautereau and We should not overlook our excellent and consistent everyday drinking wines, Red, White and Rosé, made for us at Domaine d’Antugnac in the Languedoc by Jean-Luc Terrier, our White Burgundy supplier.
Berrys' Own Range - Rest of Europe
In terms of other European countries, we have compiled a selection over the past 10 years from Spain (Rioja), Italy (Chianti and Pinot Grigio) and Germany, where a beautifully fragrant and crisp Riesling Kabinett wine from Selbach-Oster shows all the beauty of top-class Mosel wine.
Berrys' Own New World Range
The New World is also well covered; from Australia we take from Elderton a spicy, fruit-laden Barossa Valley Shiraz and, unusually for this country, a totally unoaked Chardonnay.
New Zealand’s two most successful grape varieties are well represented, through a vibrantly aromatic Sauvignon Blanc from the Seifried family and a truly hedonist, aromatic Pinot Noir from Winegrowers of Ara in Marlborough, Chile, too, features strongly with an exemplary Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot.
Berrys' Own Range of Ports, Sherry & Madeira
Fortified wines have long been an important presence on the Berrys’ list and we have been choosing a Vintage Port to bottle under the Berrys’ label for 50-years.
In recent times we have extended the range and now offer a clutch of ports from renowned houses such as Dow, Quinta do Noval and Quinta de la Rosa, while sherries from Emilio Lustau and Antonio Barbadillo and Madeiras from the Madeira Wine Company complete the picture.
Consumers who are uncertain about buying products in an unfamiliar category often seek reassurance by purchasing a known brand. With the exception of Champagne, wine is not a heavily branded product category, with literally thousands of different names from all around the world jostling for recognition.
