Interview with Simon Berry
I had the opportunity to sit down for an informal chat with Simon Berry, Chairman of Berry Brothers & Rudd, the oldest wine merchant in London. Established in 1698, it continues under the management of the Berry and Rudd families.
In this report:
A conversation with Simon Berry, Chairman of Berry Bros. & Rudd concerning the upcoming Royal Wedding and other recent news.
The London shop located at 3 St. James’s Street is still there, and the lovingly preserved rooms are used to showcase the history of the building itself, its visitors, and the business transacted within its walls. The cellars have been refurbished and are used as classrooms, event spaces for dinners and other wine events. If you love wine, put this address on your places to visit in London.
Simon Berry joined the firm in 1977, became Marketing Director in 1987, and board member in 1994. From Deputy Chairman in 2002, he became Chairman in 2005. He is the Clerk of the Royal Cellars while BBR is the holder of the Royal Warrant of Appointment to HM the Queen of England and HRH the Prince of Wales.
I was most interested in asking him about the upcoming Royal Wedding on April 29th. There is already some speculation about both the menu and the wines to be served to celebrate the affair and I wanted to know if BBR would be involved in the selection or provision of Champagnes.
Simon was quick to say that this wedding is being organized as a private event by the families of the bride and groom, and not as a State event. As such, the details concerning the preparation will not be made public in advance. Although in Great Britain it is traditional for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding, of course, this is a very special circumstance where those traditions may not be observed. After the ceremony, there will be a reception hosted by the Queen at Buckignham Palace. Later in the day there will be a dinner hosted by the Prince of Wales at the same place.
BBR might supply wine for one or both events in a confidential manner if they are requested to do so, once the families have made all their decisions. This information will remain confidential.
It has been a bit over a year since I met Simon for the first time in Tokyo so I also wanted to ask about events over last year and what is new at BBR.
There were a lot of changes in the company in 2010. Maybe the biggest change was the sale of the Cutty Sark brand. BBR thought it was the right time to do so. Cutty Sark was conceived at BBR in 1923 and became one of their most successful ventures. When it was first released, whisky was not as popular as it is now throughout the world and there was a niche for lighter spirits like Cutty. Up until then, most whisky was dark and heavy. The lightness of Cutty appealed to new drinkers and popularized blonde colored whisky. Although tastes have changed with the times, the expectation of customers continues to be that BBR will stock artisanal products that are top in their class and that are rare to find. Thanks to its success, Cutty is no longer hard to find.
BBR will continue to be involved in the super premium spirits business with brands like The Glenrothes, a single malt artisanal whisky, and No. 3 Gin, a new proprietary spirit. The market is much more sophisticated now and it was thought that they needed to keep the company focused on providing the best products available. There was some emotion involved with this decision, but people can trust BBR to continue to be a purveyor of only the best wines and spirits.
Simon informed me that he had just arrived from San Francisco so I asked if BBR was doing some business there.
The answer was yes. BBR has made a strategic investment in Anchor Brewers, a producer of craft beers. Besides their artisanal beers they also make small quantities of a gin called Junipero, which is made in a London Dry style. Both BBR and Anchor might benefit from their respective distribution channels. Through this relationship they could distribute their proprietary No. 3 Gin in the US market and their other super premium handcrafted spirits.
At the end of last year BBR published a book by Jasper Morris MW. I asked how we could get copies in Japan. Simon reported that sales of the first edition went very well. Jasper brings a fresh approach to the professional study of Burgundy and BBR is delighted that the first edition is completely sold out. A second edition will be ready in soon with translations to other languages to be completed in the next two to three years.
To serve their Japanese customers, BBR has opened an office in Tokyo. If you are interested in finding more about their wine selections available in Japan, or the availability of the Jasper Morris book contact them at: mail@bbr.co.jp , or call them at 03-5220-5491 in either Japanese or the Queen’s English.
