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If you have browsed Molloys wine section, you will find familiar wine brands at great prices all the time. However, you will also notice that we have an extensive range (almost 100) wines which you won’t find elsewhere. These are Molloys Exclusive Wines – sourced and imported directly from the vineyards. Wine brands like Santa Rita, Barefoot and Dadà are mostly supplied by big importers, adding a layer of cost. Our goal is to find the very best quality, and pass these saving on to our customers.
So how do we do it?
Rather than trek around vineyards (we wish!), we can meet over 5,000 wine producers, from 65 countries around the world, at one huge wine fair. ProWein, held in Dusseldorf, mid-March is the place to go. The über-efficient Germans like to get a head-start on the week by starting early on a Sunday morning!
Over the next three days, the wine-buying team from Molloys taste about 200 wines, starting at 9am each day. So how do you get a job like this? You need knowledge and experience of wine regions, commercial aspects of wine, practical wine retailing experience and the ability to be disciplined (and perfectly sober) while tasting, evaluating and spitting out wines. (Since all your taste buds are located in your mouth, there’s actually no need to swallow). It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it, as they say!
Prowein is spread out over 15 halls, organised by country. Put together, the surface area is similar to 15 Croke Parks.
Yes, it is a great job, but… we are very choosy about the wines we select. We estimate than less than 10% of the wines we taste reaches our shelves. We are looking for a combination of quality, price, packaging, consistency, authenticity. All too often, we find a great red wine, but its equivalent white is terrible. Or a fabulous white wine with a dreadful label. Since wine is a natural product, susceptible to weather variations, the quality varies year on year. Climate change is having a massive impact on style and price increases in recent years. Glass shortages, shipping delays, exchange rates and energy price hikes all have an impact on our choices.
Finally, on our return, we request wine samples, to double-check. If a wine is disappointing, it is rejected. After all, we want our customers to be delighted with every bottle of wine they buy from us.
And the quality of our exclusive wines? We have had so many of our wines recommended by in the press. And, equally as important, are our customers who love our wines.
Look out for our Molloys Exclusive wines. Very often we have these available for sampling in your local store. Molloys New Exclusive Wine Sale is on NOW! SHOP THE SALE NOW
