As the trade starts to gear up for Christmas, Lizzy O’Riordan catches up with retailers around the country to see how they are preparing and their trend predictions for the season

Returning to classics – Phil Innes, founder/director, Loki Wines

We genuinely start planning in January because we have our Christmas wine fairs, which showcase more than 300 products and 35 suppliers, and we need to get that tied down early. The next focus is our events. We do more events than most people, and we try to get them all online before Christmas because people buy them as gifts and tend to be organised. We start seeing a lot of those sales as soon as people return from the summer holidays.

In September, we start thinking about the products, which I choose by following my intuition. The classics always sell well at Christmas, so we know we’ll need a decent Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Sancerre and Chablis…all the Old World wines. Even though we’ve seen trends change massively over the past 15 years of trading, it’s always the same at Christmas, which is crazy when you think about how much natural wine, Greek wine, or Armenian wine we sell during the year. Another surprising trend is the drop in the number of people who want a screwcap on their wines.

Champagne is also big. I think Birmingham is known as the Champagne capital of the UK. We actually drink more Champagne per capita than London. We’re also seeing a strong increase in English wine, as people are realising they can make a saving.

Bespoke Fizz – Leesa Cole, administrator, Vinotopia Wine Merchants

We start planning for Christmas in August after the holidays, and everyone in the office groans about it. At that time, we are still enjoying chilled rosé and Gamay, so the thought of Christmas pudding, turkey and Stilton feels wrong, but we need to get ahead of the curve.

Good-quality fizz like crémant is one of our big sellers. Many Cotswolds-based clients prefer it for their parties, but we also sell a lot of Charles Heidsieck, Pol Roger and Bollinger to corporate clients, who give them out as gifts. We sell plenty of declassified white Burgundy, perfect with turkey, but we also love Babylonstoren Chardonnay, which we sell in large-format magnums.

We keep an eye on the offers from our suppliers – Alliance, Liberty and Boutinot – and incorporate these into gift hampers. In November, we hold a big Christmas tasting at the lovely Chavenage House, just outside Tetbury, and invite our suppliers to support it. It is always well attended and is a great way for us to showcase new products.

Specific to Christmas, we offer a bespoke label service on a selection of still wines and fizz, which is popular for corporate gifts and presents. For events in November and December, we host wine tastings and dinner parties at the wine barn.

Creating ease – David Timbrell Hill, owner, Beer Park

Christmas is a great time for us. The first three weeks of December account for about 17% of our annual turnover. We offer a range of gift packs and vouchers. Four-packs of Welsh ales, German lagers or Welsh ciders starting at £16 are an easy grab. Craft packs start at £26. Our 12 Beers of Christmas packs also fly out. Options include Welsh, German, Belgian, Craft or Best of Beer Park, which is our curated pick from the most popular beers of the year across the range. In 2024, we offered our first low-alcohol Christmas 12 selection, which generated some interest.

What works for us is making it easy to choose or grab a ready-made pack so the gift buyer isn’t struggling. As we run a loyalty scheme and keep records of what our customers have bought during the year, we can offer a useful service. We often see a partner anxious about what to choose as a gift, and we can look at past orders to see what styles their partner likes. Our main issue is judging stock levels so we don’t run out or end up with unsold Christmas stock. Belgian specials are not a problem as they normally come with two years’ shelf life, but Welsh and German beers are more of an issue.

Big, bold reds – Nic Rezzouk, buyer, Reserve Wines

Because of our middle-of-the-road position, between the supermarkets and the high end, I have stopped trying to guess what the trend will be – I get it wrong every year. Instead, I’m following the sales data as well as what my team likes because what the teams on the floor enjoy is what will be selling.

For Christmas I’m going to try to cover all the obvious bases from the classic regions and have a stash of older fine wines in the Cavavin fridge. I’ll select some impactful wines to put on the by-the-glass menu and will hedge my bets with contingencies and alternatives if something is more popular than expected.

I reckon big, bold reds are back, Shirazes mainly, Cabs, southern Italians. Even this summer it seems to be the reds people want. I’m told big, bold Chardonnay is also looking back on the books, so I’ll have a few of those. I’ll also contrast with Rieslings and Albariños, some interesting but lesser-known styles. It’s sounding all a bit widespread but that’s very much my strategy. We have varied tastes and there will be something for everyone.

Matching with food – Freddy Bulmer, buyer, The Wine Society

For preparation, in reality, we are always on. While trading at Christmas, we look at what offers retailers are running – on the high street, with specialist food merchants and other wine specialists – to get ideas for the following year. In January, we review how sales have gone, and feed lessons learned into planning for the next year, which kicks off in earnest around March, with product sign-offs in June.

For promotions, there are seasonal classics that we can’t see ever going away, such as Champagne deals, wines to go with turkey or mince pies, gifting options for different types of recipients and fine wine. This has evolved over the years to be more mindful of different dietary requirements (for example, vegetarians and vegans) and to offer non-drinkers something interesting as well.

As for what sells, the classics always work well, but this is really the time when sweet wines, fortified wines, spirits and both small and large formats come to the fore. Interestingly, as a mostly online retailer, the percentage of orders made by telephone does increase at Christmas, and we even get the odd order through the post. Our average bottle price increases at Christmas as members treat themselves and their friends to something a bit more special, but we see sales uplifts at all levels, and some gifts remain very price sensitive.

Belgian beer – David Jones, owner, Bier Huis

Around late September, many of the smaller breweries start letting us know that Christmas-themed bottles are ready or available for pre-order. We tend not to stock anything until mid-November, apart from Sam Smith’s Winter Welcome, which is a limited supply available from the start of September. We don’t run any promotions; instead, we market that gift boxes are available and upsell pub snacks into the boxes.

In terms of popularity, Bradfield Blue is our biggest-selling beer over Christmas. It’s so popular that it’s now available year-round in bottles. De Dolle Brouwers Stille Nacht is also a big seller for us, which we import directly from Belgium. We order Christmas-themed beers from local breweries and import around 20 from Belgium. Our mini-kegs ramp up, as do sales of Ossett Brewery beers. We also order novelty Christmas beers and pre-made gift packs from Cottage Delight.

As for sales, we see an increase from the last weekend of November. The final week before Christmas sees us doing six weeks’ worth of trade in one week. Even on quiet Mondays and Tuesdays in December, we take at least 75% more than we would during the rest of the year.

Scotch whisky – Barbara Drew MW, content officer, Berry Bros & Rudd

We start thinking about our focus and products in late July, believe it or not. It’s a huge operation covering our buying teams, our web team, our shops, marketing team and our customer service team, as well as operations, from warehouse through to drivers. We know that Christmas is a crucial time for sparkling wines, so we always try to offer a 20% saving on at least one non-vintage Champagne. Otherwise, we will try to draw attention to those wines we know our customers are really looking for: mature Bordeaux which is ready to drink, delicious white Burgundy, Sauternes and port.

Scotch whisky always does very well around Christmas, with sherry and port finishes particularly popular, as well as peated styles. Well-known brands like The Macallan are always in demand and it’s the time of year that special old and high-value bottlings from our Spirits Reserve are sought out as presents. Our Own Selection and single cask exclusive whiskies are also very popular, particularly our annual Christmas bottling. Outside whisky, Armagnac and Cognac are perennial favourites.

There are a few new releases we’re particularly excited about this Christmas: 2024 Casamatta Bianco, Bibi Graetz, Laurent Perrier Rosé in magnum, 2006 JJ Prum, Auslese in half bottles and, most excitingly, we’ve managed to source some beautiful 1963 Graham’s port. Delicious.