Any fruit wine lovers out there in the UK, you now have a new way of finding and buying tasty fruit wines.
The Fruit Wine Shop (www.fruitwineshop.com) the alternative wine start-up, today announces the launch of its global consumer-facing online service in a move that is anticipated to shake up the traditional wine sector, challenging the dogma that traditional wine making produces the best results.
The Fruit Wine Shop was founded by Michael Cooch after a friend bought him a bottle of sparkling fruit wine. Cooch started buying mixed cases from small suppliers in the UK which were made from a wide range of fruits, strawberry, elderflower, elderberry, bramble, cherry, apricot, and gooseberry. To his astonishment he was able to match them successfully with a wide range of foods. The wines, from solid reds to sprightly whites, rosés, and dessert and port-style wines range from sweet to dry, from complex to light, matched and often surpassed similar styles from traditional grape producers. Cooch discovered that “the flavours were complex and compelling and, unexpectedly, the white wine was bone dry. I used to think that all fruit wine was sweet”.
Grapes dominate the wine market like a behemoth and the traditional industry is intolerant of outside competition. Wines derived from sources other than grapes (including fruit, vegetables, flowers, honey and leaves) have up until now been ostracised, and ignored by serious wine reviewers.
Cooch’s research showed that the UK’s temperate climate is perfect for growing many of the best alternative wine stock. “I rated the wines and invited the best producers to participate in the www.fruitwineshop.com project. The feedback from them was hugely positive and now we are all committed to raising the profile of this amazing boutique, world-class, industry that exists right under our noses”, said Cooch.
There are several reasons why the fruit wine industry has struggled until recently, including the opposition generated by the grape producers, lack of availability and historically poor production standards. Fruit wine production standards now match the best in Bordeaux and Burgundy, and this nascent UK industry is on the point of bursting into life.
More info on this venture can be obtained from Umberto Agnoletto at [email protected]