At a recent Booths tasting, a soberly suited, late middle-aged gentleman was at the door greeting the arriving press. Not so unusual for a wine tasting, you might think, but I can assure you it is rare, especially when the gent in question is the company’s CEO. The fact that Edwin Booth used to be the supermarket chain’s head wine buyer went some way towards explaining his presence, but it’s more to do with the company’s culture: Booths is still an old-fashioned grocer at heart and “Mr Edwin”, as the staff apparently call him, clearly regards this simply as the proper thing to do.
His own head wine buyer, Victoria Anderson, is cut from same mould. Courteous, conscientious, cautious, and not out to make a quick buck. Her carefully sourced own-label range, of which there aren’t that many – 48, compared with more than 80 at Waitrose, say – is hard to fault, and is only ever added to when she finds a textbook example of a wine to which she’s happy to put the company’s name. The latest is a generously full-bodied Douro red (£11, and made by Booths’ port producer; 13.5%). My other favourites, which make me wish I had a branch near me, are the EH Booth & Co Gran Norte Rioja Crianza 2018 (£10.50, 14.5%) and the gavi in today’s pick.
