The economy might be recovering slowly, but customers are still on the lookout for a deal. Hamish Anderson sees an opportunity for sommeliers

As 2009 drew to a close I experienced a feeling of déjà vu. This time last year I wrote that the number of deals around was unprecedented, and that 2009 would be a year of opportunity for the proactive sommelier. Well, while merchants have mostly shifted excess stock over the last year, the high street continues to offer the consumer some startling bargains.

Champagne’s problems are well known (LVMH, for instance, recorded an eye-watering 35% drop in volume in its first half year sales compared to 2008). The result? A cornucopia of delights for the champagne lover, culminating in the infamous Morrison’s offer that saw Moët for £14.39 and Bolly for £17.95. Apparently the supermarket funded this deal and not the respective houses, who were not best pleased.

Champagne apart, the rest of the fine wine trade seems to be doing rather nicely, with blue chip Bordeaux and Burgundy both bouncing back. A case of Lafite 1982 went for over £20,000 at Christies in November and one can barely open a newspaper without coming across and article on how good an investment fine wine is. Most of the top end of the market might be being driven by the Far East, but one only has to look at the success of the Bordeaux 2008 campaign, fuelled by fair pricing and high Parker scores, to see that people will spend provided they feel they are getting value for money.

This last year, the fortunes of the restaurant trade have mirrored those of the off-trade. Although we have not yet experienced our ‘champagne moment’, the doom and gloom predicted a year ago has, by and large, not come to pass. There has even been a flurry of high profile openings over the last couple of months and city bonuses will be big this year.

The good times meant not only free-

spending customers, but also

uncritical ones. This has changed.

So, can normal service be resumed in 2010? I think not. The last 12 months have taught the consumer (even the ones with plenty of money) to look for and expect value for money. The good times meant not only free-spending customers, but also uncritical ones. This has changed; overpriced mediocrity will no longer be tolerated.

Wine mark-ups, for instance, have long been a source of irritation for customers, and a number of innovative sommeliers have started to address this situation in order to fill seats.

I have just finished reviewing nearly one hundred of London’s best lists for the 2010 Square Meal guide. As I expected, some notable establishments have reduced their offers, no doubt at the behest of worried accountants.

While only small in number, others have taken far more radical moves. In October Tom Aikens dropped its corkage charge, while the Michelin-starred Harrow Inn at Little Bedwyn is going one-step further in January and February, not only ushering in a ‘no corkage charge’ offer (for the trade) but also halving the price of the tasting menu. (Though frankly I think you’d be mad not to order something off their amazingly good value wine list.)

Back in London, the Capital has slashed prices at the top end, while Bob Bob Ricard is simply adding a flat £50 cash margin to anything that costs over £100. So if you fancy drinking some 1996 Echézeaux from DRC it will cost you £462 there or, down the road at the Dorchester, £1,600.

Restaurants were never going to take steps like this without some major prompting (such as the near collapse of the banking system) but I wonder whether we are seeing the first few tentative steps towards the end of the previously sacrosanct 75% gross profit margin.

I, for one, hope so. Bring on the rebellion!