Alchemy prides itself on providing an enjoyable and satisfying journey for all it’s customers. We have put together a selection of case studies to show our flexibility and creativity.
If you would like further information on any of these highlighted please do get in touch via our contact details at the bottom of the page.
Case Study One-China
Tasting Notes from Alun Griffiths Master of Wine.
Sandpiper Oaked Merlot:
Excellent aroma of dark plums, with just a hint of vanilla from the American oak. On the palate there is excellent weight and texture, with soft, rounded fruit flavours and a very good harmony with the oak influence. Good finish with nice balance.
Sandpiper Carignan/ Shiraz:
This is a wonderful blend we ourselves created after sampling separate samples of Shiraz and Carignan. The nose displays rich aromas of spicy wild berry fruit, enticing and attractive. On the palate we see real concentration if flavours, with sweet fruit balanced by a correct level of acidity and fine –grained tannins. The key to this wine’s quality is the old vines planted in the vineyard; the Carignan, which is 75% of the blend, is over 100 years old, and this contributes a wonderful depth and intensity to the wine.
Mu: Muscat de Rivesaltes:
A gorgeous and highly fragrant example of a very refined dessert wine. Rivesaltes is in the deep south of France and here the Muscat grape grows to exceptional maturity. It is a naturally sweet and very aromatic grape varietal, and here it is lightly fortified before all the sugar turns to alcohol, creating a honeyed, luscious wine with a beautiful natural sweetness. Drink it with desserts and fresh fruit, or on its own, chilled, as a delicate drink.
Alun Griffiths Master of Wine-
“Alchemy Wines is a dynamic and innovative wine supplier which works on the basis of forging very close relationships with both customers and suppliers. Key to their success is their flexibility; they work with suppliers who are well versed in the art of creating specific blends for certain customers, tailored to the needs of their markets, and have a wealth of options to offer in terms of labels, closures, packaging and bottle formats. Such agility is all the more welcome as it is not conditional on massive volumes of individual SKUs. Pricing is highly competitive but this does not come at the expense of quality, as Alchemy is rigorous in its selection of producers with whom to work. Post-sale support is also extremely strong, and correct documentation, vital for export markets, always accurate.
Alchemy Wines is a Company which provides solutions for customers, and works tirelessly in their clients’ best interests”
Case Study Two- Burnley FC
Alchemy’s new Chairman, Peter (Moorhouse) is a lifetime Burnley Football Club supporter (his father, Ken, was born in Burnley in 1922) and this is where the long association with the Club began. On a recent visit to the Club and now being a shareholder in Alchemy Wines, Peter asked the question of the Burnley team – if Alchemy could create a Clarets’ Claret for them, would they be interested?
The answer was yes, please!
David (Rowledge) of Alchemy Wines has been in the wine trade since 1989, and along the way has met some brilliant winemakers and established some strong long term relationships in every wine producing country across the winemaking globe. David has known Gavin Quinney from Chateau Bauduc for some 25 years ago (before he owned the Chateau). Gavin and his wife Angela were the perfect partners for the Clarets’ Claret. With long standing supply relationships with Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay and Hotel du Vin as testament to their quality winemaking – they were approached and tasting samples were sent to Alchemy and to the team at Burnley – and the Clarets’ Claret was born.
The Alchemy team did some more brainstorming on how to make the most of this exciting sport and wine venture. David’s father (Peter Rowledge and founding Chairman of Alchemy) had passed away from prostate cancer some years earlier, David raised many thousands for this great charity; Barry Kilby (Vice Chair of Burnley FC) has recovered from prostate cancer; and Peter Moorhouse is a close friend of the Chair of Prostate Cancer UK, Charles Packshaw. With all parties in agreement, and donations from wines sales being split between PCUK and The Barry Kilby Foundation, we hope that the Clarets’ Claret will deliver not only exceptional wine for any Burnley supporter, but will also raise additional funds for two great Charities.
Case Study Three-Canada
One of Alchemy’s key strengths is to travel to a new market, research this market, understand the required taste profiles of the end consumer and work closely with our distribution partners and retailers so as not to undermine the client base.
After launching Masia F Tempranillo into the Vancouver market in 2014 and gaining good traction throughout the Independent outlets – Everything Wine (the largest independent retailed in the area) approached Alchemy to create an exclusive label for them – so as not to undermine the Independent’s existing clients base.
Monte Rosso Tempranillo was branded, blended and bottled – with a very slight change to the original Masia F blend. The Monte Rosso proved a success and we created and developed Monte Sparkling to add to the range in 2017. In addition The Everything buying team wanted to test a higher price point red option. Through a number of tastings in Canada and Europe ‘The Red’ Shiraz was created, using 30% oak within the blend, with a slightly higher alcohol and some additional sweetness to really soften the finish and make it unbelievably approachable. This has been on promotion recently in store and the consumers are enjoying this next step up the quality ladder. At this stage we have another eight blend options (whites, reds and sparkling) sitting with Everything Wine.
Jim Williams Appellation Wine Marketing
“We have seen consistent year over year sales growth with our Alchemy portfolio in Western Canada. David and his team have been extremely responsive to the changing needs of our customers, and have been able to deliver on their commitments. Alchemy has access to quality wine at the right price points.”
Case Study Four- South Africa
In 2007 Alchemy was asked to create a “new proposition” for The Burj al Arab-Dubai, I had been working closely with De Toren, Meerlust, Klein Constantia and Haut Cabriere in South Africa already on a different project. This gave myself and the owners / winemakers at two of these properties an opportunity to really create something unique and special for Peter Huy the Chef Sommelier at the Burj al Arab.
De Toren being the first Stellenbosch winery to specifically plant the five Bordeaux reds varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. A state of the art gravity driven winery was built and named De Toren (Tower in Dutch!) – no harsh pumping, single grape selection, and their attention to detail that was off the scale. Emil den Dulk and Albie Kock are still at the helm of this wonderful winery.
Klein Constantia makes the iconic “Vin de Constance” – Napoleon’s favourite tipple!! Working with winemaker Adam Mason and owner Lowell Jooste (the owner at the time) we blended a stunning Chardonnay that had spent a sensible time in 500 litre Burgundian medium toasted French barrels. The result was a white wine of exceptional intensity for the Burj.
Incognito was chosen to be the name of these wonderful wines.
A very proud achievement for all involved – wines from South Africa, labels printed and sent from France, French oak and a UK based production company Alchemy, putting this unique opportunity together for the only 7* hotel in the world (at the time) in Dubai – a truly international collaboration – where everyone won. These labels were the first to have the agreement that the Burj al Arab’s logo could be used (which alone was not the easiest to negotiate).