Where to buy wine and what type to buy?

Hi

We're doing this too. We originally looked at Majestic wines but Tesco Wine shop (not the normal supermarket wine section) has the wines even cheaper (slightly).

As for what wines - we're a bit of a wine snob (we like to know what we're drinking) but then again, you need to cater for the masses so are thinking of a Chardonnay (not a heavy one though) and a Rioja - this was a Merlot in the first place but since changed. We're having lamb for our meal.

We're having chicken for our meal (safe option!) so is there any wines that are better suited to this? It's in a button mushroom, shallot and brandy cream sauce if that makes any difference! thanks!

These days - I think a Pinot Grigio is quite a safe bet - it's the new "trendy" white wine.

I don't think you can go wrong with a Chardonnay - but make sure it's not a heavy oaky chardonnay. We tried a French White Burgundy Chardonnay on Saturday and it was very nice. A French Chablis is also a Chardonnay grape. It's kinda personal preference really with wine. If you have a favourite wine yourself - you could use that?

As for red wine - i'm a Merlot or Rioja girl.

We went to a free wine tasting course at Majestic last week and apparently you'll find a lot of big named Australian and Californian wines on sale at the mo as they grew a lot of grapes for wine for the UK market and with the "credit crunch" they're offering deals on them to UK stores to get rid of them. Might be worth a look?

I'd go for a french white - maybe something from the Loire valley like a Muscadet, or if you fancy something more fruity either a sauvignon blanc from the same region or wine from entre-deux-mers. If you are going to go french you might find a quick trip over there works out the cheapest. Sancerre is a beautiful wine, but it is pretty pricey.

For the toast I really like the New Zealand Lindauer - you can get this from most stores. If you want to go Cava the M&S one is very nice, I think.

For welcome drink, you could go Bucks Fizz or if you fancy something a bit different how about Kir Royale - a mix of creme de cassis and champagne/sparkling wine?

If you're really not sure what sort of thing you fancy the best thing might be to go to a small wine shop - they often do tastings - and then buy in bulk from somewhere like majestic or tesco.

Thats what we are doing, we normally do a christmas 'booze cruise' over there so will prob do one in the new year for our wedding wine.

Wendy, do you mind me asking what your corkage is? Ours seems quite high to me so would be good to have something to compare to!

I asked my venue about this the other day as I'm concerned that the bar is a bit small ? They said they would charge 3.50 corkage per bottle- is this good or not?? I have no idea?

As for types of wine I again have no idea, in my chav-vy opinion the cheaper the better as I find it all rather horrible. (Give me a blue WKD any day) ?

Personally I don't go with all that "white wine for white meat / fish and red wine for beef/lamb etc".

I can't stand white wine, so have red with everything, and my fave red's are a fruity type, ie. merlot, cabernet sauvignon. If you prefer the oaky heavier wines, I would go for a rioja, or my fella's fave, Chateau neuf du pap.

I think you can't go wrong with Asda's / Tesco's / Sainsbury's 3 for £10 at the mo, although think there is more choice in Asda. Having said that after you have bought the wine and then paid corkage, it might be cheaper buying it at the venue.

£3.50??? bargin, my venue is charging £7 per bottle (I will be doing some haggling)

I do like a good Pinot, and can't stand chardonnay- Im the bride so will be buying what I like at a good price, don't know where yet though.

I dont really understand the 'corkage' term... do they actually serve the wine that you supply or do they just charge because obviously it will affect their profit?

I just want to leave bottles on the tables

I think, basically you bring in the wine they will serve at the table (leave on the table) every cork that is opened your charged for. But, I have heard that you have to be careful as they may open all at once (even if you don't want/need them all). Also I think is only applies to table and welcome drinks etc, not at the bar.

? snap that up!! mine is £12.00!!! Will most definately be negotiating that, I think the norm is about £6-£8, Ill certainly be finding out for sure the average and then start knocking mine down. The cheapest wine at our venue is £19 per bottle!!!

Oooo I'm on to a winner then! Better book that trip to France

I always feel really lucky when I read about corkage, as our venue doesn't charge it so we're planning a booze cruise to France neaer the time, to get all our wine and sparkly from Carrefour or the Tesco at Cite Europe. We went the other day to check out prices and got a few bottles to taste (as I'm totally clueless about wine!). We got a great deal on the ferry, and I think you can use Tesco vouchers to get money off the tunnel, so will do that, as then we can get white, rose and red and have enough for everyone but not spend too much.

Ok dumb question here... how much is just a normal bottle of wine??? ? I need to get out more!

In Supermarkets, between about £4 and £8 but in Restaurants, they can charge anything from £10 to £20 or more, depends on the wine and the place selling it really.

Thanks... another dumb question.... does it go out of date? ? I might stock up when I see some offers

Hi, the corkage for our venue is £6.95 per bottle of wine and £8.95 per bottle of anything fizzy such as champagne or bucks fizz. It was actually the caterer who suggested I should buy my own wine from costco or somewhere and pay the corkage as she said that's where they get it from anyway but they charge more. It is a bit more hassle but anything I can save will really help.

Asda are doing Andrew Peace Chardonnay 3 for £10 and Andrew Peace Cabernet Sauvignon 3 for £10 - they are normally £5.58 per bottle. Was thinking of these, can anyone advise if these sound like a good option to suit the masses?!

We're quite lucky in that our venue charges are per person amount rather than per bottle so once we've paid the amount per head we can take as much booze as we want. They even said if we want to serve cocktails, give them all the ingredients and a receipe and they'll make them for us!

The corkage charge is to cover the staff keeping an eye on levels and toping up, the glasses, the ice, etc...

If it's a per bottle charge then you need to work out how much you want to provide - the cost including corkage vs the amount the venue charge. It may not be a scheap as you think or you could end up getting much nicer quality wine for about the same price.

Not entirely sure, should be OK until your wedding provided it's stored in a cool and dry place and not opened. I think!

Most will improve with age rather than go off. Some will say on the bottle 'best drunk now' but even that means within a year. If you see good offers I'd go for it!

We go to wine tastings and events a fair bit and have family who are really, really into their wine. We still manage to find really good deals in the supermarkets and Threshers. Chardonnay is a bit like marmite - you either love it or hate it! I've never been fond of anything oak-aged.

Personally, I think for a big event, you can't go wrong with an inoffensive Sauvignon Blanc for white and a nice Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot for red. New World wines (New Zealand, South Africa, California) can be better value than many french wines where you're paying for the label.

We'll be serving a very drinkable Rose along with Red and White wines at our reception.

£3.50 corkage is a steal! Cheapest we were quoted was $8 for wine, £12 for champagne!

My husband, (who was reading this over my shoulder) has recommended you go to Threshers and get a load of Montana Sauvignon Blanc which works out as about £6.50 per bottle on the 3 for 2. They also tend to give a discount if you buy in bulk. Oyster Bay (om nom nom) has also been on offer recently.

Keep an eye out for great deals in the supermarkets too!

3.50 corkage is a bargain! ours charges about 9.50 off the top of my head and I will definitely try and negotiate (though we've booked the place already and knew their prices so I'm not sure if negotiating should have been done before ....). I had a look online and thing tesco online had the best prices but Waitrose are not bad either, surprisingly, and their wines are usually quite good in general. is it still worth going to france for wine? with the pound being down I'm not sure how much you save... I would be interestedin any suggestions as well...

I think you've been given a lot of information and like I said - it's all about personal choice really when it comes to wine.

I'd suggest you just buy some bottles of wine and test them out (the perks of a wedding). We've done this a few times now - invited friends round to dinner (lamb so we can check what goes) and had a couple of bottles of each colour. Our first choice didn't work (NZ Sauvignon Blanc) so we're just testing a few options now. So, find som ebottles, try some - if you like them - go for it!

Personally, I wouldn't suggest the 3 for £10 offers but that's cos I'm a bit of a wine snob (or I think I am! ?) They're a nice swigging wine but I prefer a nicer wine with my meal.

Go onto Majestic website and look at the Uncorked Sessions - see if there's one at your local store. You'll get to find out a bit more about wines and try some so you might just start to get an understanding of what you do and don't like. That's what they're aimed at - people who like to drink wine but don't really know what they drink.

Good luck!

Ditto, but I think im going to 'play' the reccession card on this one, and its true, since booking the venue I have been made redundant twice, which has forced me to take a massive reduction in salary, but we had already paid the deposit so couldnt do a lot about the finding a cheaper venue etc, its worth a try!!

Just a quickie for girls thinking of cava - get in quick with M&S! http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/515579/m-s-6-bottles-of-medium-dry-cava-fo

In terms of catering for the majority I would agree that a pinot grigio or sav blanc is probably the best. I agree with Mogwai in that I would steer clear of chardonnay. Personally I like chardonnay but I know a lot of people that can't stand it. Same with the reds, go for something thats more middle of the road like merlot, cab sav, pinot noir blends etc. I love Shiraz but again this is one I would avoid for the masses.

As someone else said, probably best to just go and try a few, great excuse!

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for all your advice! I've been looking at M&S (thanks brideseekingblush!) at the Cava deal and have decided to order that for the toast, it's medium dry cava prestige and is half price (works out £3.75 per bottle). I was thinking of maybe ordering the wine for the meal at the same time as they've got a big sale on at the moment. I've decided to go for a Sauvignon Blanc and a Merlot as these seem to be the most popular choices when I've read through your replies. The ones I'm thinking of ordering are:

Gold Label Merlot (works out £3.74 per bottle, was £6.49)

Gold Label Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (£3.74 per bottle, was £6.49)

They are both bestselling wines for Marks and Spencer, has anyone ever drank either of these before? Let me know if you've got any feedback on them.

Just got a concern that the white wine says it's at it's best when drank young (the wine not the person!) and it says to drink it within 6 months of purchase. Actually, the Cava also says to drink within 6 months. The wedding is in 9 months. Does anyone think this will be a problem? Am I best waiting?

thanks

Wendy

If the Cava says drink within 6 months, then probably best not to buy it now. Chances are it'd be fine, but it's not something you want to be worrying about leading up to the wedding!

Given that your wedding is in 9 months, you could always wait for another M&S sale closer to the time. We often pick up a bottle on sale there, and they come around regularly enough.

However, if you do decide to buy your wines now, make sure you have a cool dark place to store them in.

Good selection though! Merlot and Sauv B are very drinkable!!

Hi Mogwai, I think you're right, it's taking a chance that they'd be ok. I'm gonna hang fire and wait until the next sale comes up. At least I know what I want to buy now so can keep my eye out for good deals in the new year. Thanks again to everyone!

We're doing this too.

Got Lindauer as our sparkly from Majestic for around £6 a bottle. Our red is a Barolo from, would you believe it, Lidl for £4 a bottle (I tested it on my unsuspecting party guests on Friday night and it got lots of compliments!) and the white is as yet unknown.

Do you think beer should be offered?

Hi all,

Don't forget that VAT goes back up to 17.5% from Jan 1 next year, & will add to the cost of the wine you buy.

HTH

M x