The Wine Society has made a move to improve the provenance and quality of its exclusive The Blind Spot wine range.
The business said it would, for the first time in its history, provide the funding for buying grapes rather than liquid for the range of Australian wines.
Winemaker Mac Forbes has spend the last decade identifying ‘interesting’ parcels of wine for the range, which has been an integral part of The Wine Society’s portfolio for the past 10 years, and securing them before they could be ‘blended into obscurity by bigger players’.
As part of a new agreement, The Society will fund Forbes to buy grapes from across Australia.
In order to continue its quest for the most ‘genuine, exciting and best-value wines’, the business said it had decided to fund the purchase of grapes for The Blind Spot, paying up to 12 months ahead of the wines’ release.
The ‘far-sighted decision’ will enable The Society to plan what wine styles it wants to work with, and add greater traceability to the range, the statement added.
Freddy Bulmer, buyer for Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Eastern Europe, beers and ciders, said: ‘Australia is bursting with exciting contemporary wines but also a rich wine history, so I am very excited to be able to work with Mac in this new way in order to gain access to the most authentic and delicious examples that the country has to offer, and bring them exclusively to Wine Society members.’
Available from this month, the improved range comprises four wines with plans to increase to six with the 2022 vintage.
Moreover, the packaging has been completely redesigned with a contemporary look to reflect the new venture.
The wines available include:
- King Valley Garganega 2021, £11.50
- Adelaide Hills Dolcetto 2020, £11.50
- Grampians Syrah 2021, £12.95
- Yarra Valley Pinot Meunier 2021, £12.95
It is however worth noting that the Spot Dolcetto 2020 was already in the winery before the new funding arrangement with Forbes. This means that, unlike the 2021s, The Society bought this bottling as wine, rather than fruit.
The Blind Spot first came about when The Society’s then Australian buyer and now director of wine, Pierre Mansour recognised a ‘lack of good Australian wines’ available in the value-for-money sweet spot in the UK – a ’blind spot‘, at that price point.
The range was then created collaboratively, with Forbes hunting out exclusive parcels and sending samples to Mansour.