Summary
The view from the top of business. Presented by Evan Davis, The Bottom Line cuts through confusion, statistics and spin to present a clearer view of the business world, through discussion with people running leading and emerging companies.
It's said that the best way to make a small fortune in the wine business is to start with a large one. Evan Davis and his guests explore just how profitable selling crushed grapes really is. How do they convince consumers they are offering quality and value?
Joining Evan in the studio are Graham Sumeray, CEO Fine + Rare; Dan Jago, Category Director (Beers, Wines and Spirits) at Tesco's; Alok Mathur, co-founder and director Soul Tree Wines.
Editor: Innes Bowen.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Thank you for downloading this program from the BBC. |
| 0:03.5 | On the bottom line this week, Evan Davis and his guests uncork some of the secrets of the wine trade. |
| 0:10.9 | Hello and welcome to the programme. |
| 0:12.9 | Today we're going to be talking about the business of wine, a product almost as old as civilisation, |
| 0:18.8 | and one which shows no sign of going out of fashion any time soon. |
| 0:23.4 | It's not just finding new markets, it's spawning new producers in novel places too. |
| 0:28.5 | Well, my three guests all work in very different parts of the wine industry, |
| 0:32.6 | and I hope they'll let us in on some of the secrets of the modern wine trade, |
| 0:36.3 | and let's spend a few minutes just |
| 0:38.0 | meeting them now. First up is Graham Summeray, who's chief executive of Fine and Rare. |
| 0:44.8 | Graham, your wine brokers, really, aren't you, at the very top, top end of the market? |
| 0:49.4 | Well, we're an international fine wine broker. We do sell wine for anything from £10 a bottle |
| 0:53.9 | to £10,000 a bottle. |
| 0:55.9 | Our average bottle price is about £120. But we're very international. Over 60% of our business is international. |
| 1:02.3 | We sell a lot into America, into Asia. |
| 1:04.7 | You're not selling it typically. You're not just selling a case of wine for people to take home and drink. |
| 1:09.2 | Some are. Most of our customers are what we call collectors. About 90% of our business is what we term collectors, people who want to buy beautiful wines, store them in our air-conditioned warehouses, and then take delivery of them as and when they want to drink them. Some of the business is investment, but it's a small part of the business. Some of the business is for immediate consumption. |
| 1:29.1 | So we do sell wines for a couple of hundred pounds a case, which people very much enjoy and will have immediate delivery. |
| 1:35.8 | Also with us, Dan Jago, who runs the wines, beers and spirit side of the huge supermarket chain, Tesco. |
| 1:44.1 | Dan, how much wine beers and spirits does Tesco sell in a year? |
| 1:47.7 | I imagine it's quite... An enormous amount. We sell one in every four bottles of wine consumed in the UK, |
| 1:53.8 | and it's obviously a global company, Tesco. So we're in 12 countries around the world. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.