Market Row Wines

By Dave Simpson

Hi and welcome to Market Row Wines’ new column. Over the coming months I plan to vent my opinion mostly about wine (although I might have the odd rant about the pot holes on Brixton Hill) as well as offer reader discounts. I’ll also hopefully organise an online tasting club where you can ask questions, discuss wine and share tasting notes.

Market Row Wines opened its doors quietly just over a year ago in the covered market adjacent to that other covered market which I won’t mention as it already gets its fair share of press. But we on Market Row have some pretty decent offerings too. The wine shop, I hope, has added to this cosmopolitan parade by offering a selection of hand chosen wines covering all bases without breaking the bank. There’s also an ever growing selection of craft beers.

Originally I set out to dismantle the guff surrounding the wine industry- the language, the price, the ritual, the mystique, the pricing. The price, it always come down to the pricing: I want to try and make wine buying an enjoyable experience for the people of Brixton and its surrounding areas.

You see, wine is a commitment. At its most simplistic, you are investing in 750ml of liquid held in a glass receptacle. You have to make a choise to what to buy as ultimately, it’s your hard earned money. Our job is to help you make an informed choice, to add real value to that wine by allowing you to be part of its life. The primary purpose of wine, its reason for being, is to be drunk and enjoyed. And you, the consumer, complete the cycle.

Now you would imagine that your investment is largely in that 750mls of liquid, but of course that’s not quite true. The actual cost of the liquid is minimal. Wine is more than cost.

There is something still missing from these equations. Something unquantifiable. True value is decided by the consumer. It encompasses context and experience. If you have made an informed choice and enjoyed buying and drinking the wine, then that wine is offering true value outside the realms of price and percentages.

It’s beyond this column’s remit to define the unquantifiable, but what I hope to do is illuminate the quantifiable. So in the meantime if you bring your copy of the Bugle to the shop you will receive 10% off your next purchase* and  join me in defining wine.

*Terms and conditions apply. Please ask in store or via Twitter @MarketRowWines.