Message in a bottle on Fairtrade offerings

May 16 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

JUST like handbags and sunglasses, wine has its designer labels. Malcolm Gluck tells the story of a wine importer from Singapore, who having splashed out £5,000 for a bottle of Chateau Petrus, made sure that it was prominently displayed on his table, but then proceeded to ‘enhance’ his glass with Pepsi. He admitted, Malcolm relates, to not liking the taste of red wine.

For over a quarter of a century Malcolm has run a one-man campaign against wine snobbery and the silliness that often surrounds its serving and drinking.

For years, he has also claimed to be the only wine writer who has had the courage to mark a wine solely on the basis of its value for money.

His Superplonk Guides, based on his column in The Guardian newspaper, were best sellers and his series Gluck, Gluck Gluck is still by far the best wine show ever broadcast on British television.

I asked him what he makes of Fairtraded wines. Do they cut the mustard? “At first I thought, they were very bad and overpriced, but they’re much better now.”

So good are they that when restaurateur Chris Jewitt invited him to come and present a Fairtrade wine tasting in Newcastle tomorrow, he readily agreed.

“The six wines we’ll show are all very interesting in different ways. I’m not sure whether the new Soluna Malbec from Argentina is really worth £9.99, but it’s a very posh, accomplished wine.

“I tasted it yesterday and I’m looking forward to enjoying a glass of it again tonight.” Malcolm is committed to Fairtrade, but in the course of a number of visits, he’s been quite prepared to give growers in South Africa a very honest opinion of their efforts and to, as he says, “be brutally honest” from time to time.

He also has a new book (he’s already written over 30) coming out in September which “tries to right some of the wrongs in the wine industry”.

It’s likely to include some pretty trenchant views on the role of supermarkets in selling wine.

“I was once very gung-ho about supermarket trading, but now I’m not nearly so keen,” he says.

Malcolm exempts Sainsbury’s and Waitrose from much of this criticism and singles out the Co-op for special praise.

“They have terrific wines and fine ethical values.” He also has nice things to say about Majestic.

The idea for the Fairtrade wine tasting came about at Chris’s first meeting as chair of the Newcastle Fairtrade Partnership. “Someone suggested that Oz Clarke be approached to come and do it. Everyone laughed. And then, after a moment, we began to say, ‘Why not?’”

When Malcolm’s daughter Alex, a student at Newcastle University, came into Chris’s restaurant, Open Kitchen in Gosforth, a day or so later, he acted on the spur of the moment and plucked up the courage to ask, “might your dad be interested in coming?”

It turns out that Malcolm is a great fan of Newcastle, where his son Gus is also a student at Northumbria University. “In 1991, when I did my first Superplonk tour of the country, I came to Newcastle for the first time and thought it was wonderful. And so, every year until 2002 when I toured the British Isles, I always made sure that it was the last city I visited. There was a great second hand book shop I used to go to, and I always took the chance to sample Terry Laybourne’s cooking. It seems to me that Newcastle is like an independent state within the UK. It’s a great place.”

Chris’s next coup was to persuade leading Fairtrade wine distributor Ehrmann’s to donate the wines, which include not only the posh new Soluna Malbec but also the first Fairtraded dessert wine I’ve ever come across, made from sun-dried Muscat grapes in South Africa.

The tasting at the Arts Works Galleries on Stepney Bank in Newcastle’s Ouseburn district is open to anyone who wants to come and try Fairtraded wines for themselves. There will be two sessions, at 7.30pm and 9.30pm, and are both absolutely free. Malcolm will introduce six wines and be around to talk to those who come.

The evening is a real coup and a fantastic achievement for Chris, the lad from Hebburn who quit his university course in development studies in order to try and better practise what he preached. He founded Open Kitchen with chef Anders Korovesslis, and has now joined forces with Chris Slaughter at the Grainger Rooms, opposite the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle.

Their shared aim in both restaurants is to be “absolutely transparent” about the producers from whom they buy, and to focus on both the best of local produce and also Fairtraded goods from further afield.

“After all,” Chris says, “they don’t grow bananas in Blagdon”.

He’s passionate about his role of chair of the Fairtade Partnership and has organised a host of events to make more people aware of it, as well as running workshops in schools.

‘I don’t want Fairtrade to be seen as something marginal or middle class. It’s a funky little brand that everyone should want to buy because it’s a good product that speaks for itself.

“Let’s think outside the box a bit and try and attract a much bigger audience for Fairtrade. It can be where local meets global to everyone’s benefit.”

Just for the record, I think that the swish new Soluna Malbec 2005 is worth a tenner of anyone’s money, it’s rich, ripe and plummy with a damson-like taste with a hint of chocolate and lingering silky tannins. It’s available at www.everywine.co.uk

The free Fairtraded wine tasting sessions will take place at the Arts Works Galleries, Stepney Bank, Newcastle, tomorrowat 7.30pm and 9.30pm.

WINE OF THE WEEK

Co-op Fairtrade Chilean Merlot Rosé 2007, Co-op, £4.49

Vivid pink with a ripe, slightly herby strawberry smell and a very fruity, but dry taste of mixed red fruits. Enjoy it with salmon – in almost any form.