Wine. How has it performed for you since lockdown?

26 October 2021 - Justin Sims

Let’s face it, the past 18 months have been, well, pretty weird to say the least. Not to mention seriously unsettling. I think everyone acknowledges that the impact on the hospitality sector has been particularly hard felt.

Since the easing of lockdown, the speed of recovery in the on-trade has been mostly overwhelming and welcomed with open arms. It’s certainly brought its own challenges and supply chains continue to bear the brunt of this, but it’s a nice problem to have after months of uncertainty.

To gain some insights from a restaurant that has experienced a positive uplift in wine sales post lockdown, I managed to catch Sonal Clare, Sommelier at The Wilderness in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, to talk wine and find out how he and the team have coped over the past year or so, along with his outlook for the festive season.

Let's Talk Wine Post-lockdown

What have been the main successes post-lockdown?

During lockdown, Sonal and the rest of the team discussed a new format for their wine list, which they created outside of house and launched on re-opening back in May.

He said, “We were thinking, what can we do to make our wine list a little bit more original, a little bit different and not just words and numbers.”

The new list features photographs of the wine bottles and some of the producers along with informative text, but without the nonsense. There’re also some photos of the staff members too. In Sonal’s words the choice of imagery “keeps it fun but also engaging too”.

“We basically have this wine magazine that’s more like an editorial, which obviously has the cocktails and drinks too with a little bit of photography in it, so it looks a little bit like a GQ magazine.”

The result? Their customers LOVE it!

What changes, if any, did you make to your wine offering prior to re-opening?

With Sonal only joining the business in January 2020, he didn’t have long to re-shape things before the pandemic took hold.

“Basically, our wine list was very natural wine focused and I’m not the hugest fan of them. I don’t mind minimal intervention but the real funky or out there stuff isn’t really my cup of tea.” Sonal effectively swapped these out for the more classic, conventional tasting organic and biodynamic wines, of which there are plenty to choose from.

“We had a big movement shift in between the first and second lockdown where we opened for two months, October and November, and we introduced [around] 60 new wines to the list.”

Subsequently, Sonal added a few more when they reopened again this year and given everything is offered by the glass, there’s more than enough choice to satisfy the most discerning diners. For ease they also introduced a flat ‘by the glass’ rate across all their standard wines.

Ambition and Experimentation are a Force for Good

“Alongside the wine flights we do a Super Wine Flight where we’ve got rare [wines] and Krug Champagne on.

We also do a mixed flight where we do like hacked wines, so we basically strip the wine back. We influence and integrate cocktail flavours into it and play around with the elements”, Sonal explains.

Sonal is clearly not afraid to experiment and seems keen to shake up the conventional norms surrounding wine and wine service which, frankly, is much needed if wine is to keep up with the other trendy and dynamic drink categories like specialist spirits, craft beer, saké, vermouths, etc.

What have been the biggest challenges the business has faced post lockdown?

Despite being just a 20-cover restaurant, all of the tables bar one were already sufficiently distanced, which was fortunate, so the reduction in capacity was minimal. Sonal explains that the front of house staff are still wearing masks, as much for their safety as for their guests, but they’re continually reviewing the situation.

“Challenges-wise, just in terms of supplies it’s been a bit of a nightmare. When we were coming to order, people were like ‘well we don’t have this’, ‘this is stuck in bond’, ‘this is stuck in the Suez Canal’ and we were like okay, what are we going to do then. So we were always trying to find alternatives.”

Sonal goes on to explain that the problems with the supply chain haven’t just affected wines, it’s affected all drinks, food supply and even dining plates too.

Have you noticed any new customer wine trends/preferences emerging post-COVID and if so, what?

“We have a good conversion rate on a weekly basis on flights”, says Sonal. Their Apéritif Menu details these and they’re proving really popular, even the zero ABV option for those who can’t or don’t want to drink alcohol.

More generally, Sonal explains there’s been a greater trend towards last-minute bookings during the week, which is even more impressive given the fact they’re one of the most expensive restaurants in Birmingham.