Overcoming the obstacles for the non-GB Port drinker..

[djewesbury]

I've almost completed¹ an exhaustive spreadsheet of surpluses charged by dealers for delivery to Northern Ireland, and of the different charges and terms offered by the various storage companies. Needless to say, this is a dispiriting task: it is just so much more expensive to enjoy VP when you have a little bit of water between you and Great Britain. Buying from the Republic of Ireland doesn't help at all, as their suppliers are already setting their prices (sometimes doubling them, in comparison to English prices) to compensate for the higher price they're paying in the first place, for the smaller market, and for their slightly higher VAT rate. (A few people have suggested I just fill the car every so often and drive back: I drive, but don't own a car; and the cost of petrol / ferry for such a round trip more than offsets the costs of even the most expensive dealer or cellar - including those who charge by the full pallet to deliver one half-case..)

Last week I spent a little time at the BFT talking to shippers and producers about trying to introduce Port² to the Northern Irish market a little more - not an easy task, and certainly not one that can be undertaken in one go. It needs approaches to the restaurant and bar trade here, to the three or four big wine merchants who supply nearly all of those licensed establishments, and - last but certainly not least - to the public, the potential drinkers of this stuff. I'm going to start contacting the people I was talking to in London last week and will post back here to update others; and to invite whoever is interested to come to some Port events in Belfast, hopefully some time soon - at The Galley Cafe (also see here).

There are a few people at who have a great deal of experience in proselytising the Good News of Port, and who could organise this kind of thing with their eyes closed. If anyone wants to offer some advice / opinions / observations, or to engage in general chat, or to pass on contacts, please feel free to add to this thread or PM me.

¹ Hubris.
² The Mayson capitalisation. Use? Do not use?

[RAYC]

I'm sure you will have seen that BBR do free delivery to NI on orders over £200, and if you have specific "by-the-case" (or 6-pack) requests they will often be able to enquire with their suppliers and add their standard mark-up...

[g-man]

Actually what logistics are you looking for besides shipping?

as ray mentioned BBR is probably the best option for you for the car shipping, but were you asking also in terms of events?

I find ... at least one month in advance to both collect preorders and alert people.
1 bottle gives enough tasting for 2oz x 12 people if it's a more intimate tasting
can be stretched to ~1oz x 30 people for a pure wine tasting

A fun event I have is see what's local
Cheese and port is always good fun event
I would add that you could try white ports and irish breakfast tea as possible pairings.

There are others logistic related things but they currently slip my mind.

[djewesbury]

I'm sure you will have seen that BBR do free delivery to NI on orders over £200, and if you have specific "by-the-case" (or 6-pack) requests they will often be able to enquire with their suppliers and add their standard mark-up...

Actually the news is even better than that, delivery is free to NI above £100 - so almost any decent order. I'll bear in mind what you say about their willingness to buy in.. Even though their 'standard mark-up' is a little higher than others', that's obviously offset by the absence of hefty delivery charges.

Actually what logistics are you looking for besides shipping?

One thing would definitely be a greater range in the local trade merchants -> greater choice in restaurants -> more people drinking the stuff.. This is potentially over-complex and over-ambitious though... But perhaps if it's possible to prime demand a little the dealers will feel less wary about dipping their toes and buying in (more varied) stock.

I find ... at least one month in advance to both collect preorders and alert people.
1 bottle gives enough tasting for 2oz x 12 people if it's a more intimate tasting
can be stretched to ~1oz x 30 people for a pure wine tasting

A fun event I have is see what's local
Cheese and port is always good fun event
I would add that you could try white ports and irish breakfast tea as possible pairings.

There are others logistic related things but they currently slip my mind.

All really useful thoughts and advice, thanks g-man! Definitely, a 'see what's local' is a good idea.. That could build some useful momentum. White port and Irish Breakfast tea is one I haven't tried yet, but will do later this afternoon...

[g-man]

One thing would definitely be a greater range in the local trade merchants -> greater choice in restaurants -> more people drinking the stuff.. This is potentially over-complex and over-ambitious though... But perhaps if it's possible to prime demand a little the dealers will feel less wary about dipping their toes and buying in (more varied) stock.

this is tough,
whats your budget and what are you willing to spend on such endeavor.

Alot of the port houses SFE and TFP have set budgets where they go through very specific ad agencies. I would acutally call one of them up and see who you can talk with.

The IVDP can also be asked what agencies they use to promote port and you can find out what may be local to belfast.

But if it was on a personal level, it's realy a matter of dining out, asking the restaurant if they'd be happy if you brought in a bottle then you ask to let them give a taste.
a majority of them will probably say no, with an even larger minority not even buying (I have a 10% hit rate for example in my cold calls)

Another option is to join the local sommelier groups. I'm sure ther'es only a few of them and literally hold an offline.
set the price and shoot the invite out and get people to attend offlines.
best way to show off the juice is to have people drink it.

[RAYC]

I see that DWS seem to promote local wine events on their web-page, and presumably via their email lists. Given that Belfast is not overflowing with fine wine merchants, that might be one way of getting exposure with the kind of people who might be interested.

Since they do stock some lower-end Smith Woodhouse ports, they may be able to help you with other orders that come direct from the Symingtons.

The wine-pages forum is also worth joining to see if there might be a "ready-made" group of Belfast-based posters who would try something out (or give more NI-specific advice).

I can also see the advantages of presenting a "Douro" tasting and including wines (even if the event ends up being port-focused).

[g-man]

I can also see the advantages of presenting a "Douro" tasting and including wines (even if the event ends up being port-focused).

see if you can reach miguel nora of viniportugal

http://www.viniportugal.pt/

[djewesbury]

Thanks again to both of you.. yes, I'd actually almost forgotten about DWS - they've been supplanted a little in recent years by other merchants but they're certainly worth contacting.. and all the other suggestions are good!

As far as a budget goes, I'm flexible but hoping that in the first instances at least this will be driven by shippers and distros wanting to get their juice glugged.. I have free use of a venue where we can provide excellent food, and we can charge something for public events to cover catering costs.. Hopefully this can balance out without too much initial outlay. We also have existing customer contacts through the venue and their partners (and the wine-pages tip is a great one, I didn't know about them and have already identified a few likely names there).

So much to do, and already some very promising responses from the dealers..

[djewesbury]

I can also see the advantages of presenting a "Douro" tasting and including wines (even if the event ends up being port-focused).

see if you can reach miguel nora of viniportugal

http://www.viniportugal.pt/

Who shall I say recommended him to me..?

[g-man]

I can also see the advantages of presenting a "Douro" tasting and including wines (even if the event ends up being port-focused).

see if you can reach miguel nora of viniportugal

http://www.viniportugal.pt/

Who shall I say recommended him to me..?

no need, it's in their professional interest to promote wines of the douro