Covid-19 Policy
Menu

News

DotW, Sheldon’s Super Sale, Guest Beers, 2021 Wines Package, Stocktake & Car’s the Star

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all managed to have a fun time over the break. I know we certainly did. Many a fine bottle was opened and plenty of good food was scoffed. So much so that we have entered 2022 in need of some self control. A little discipline perhaps. We’ll see how that goes (and how long it lasts.)

Thank you for your forbearance over the last week while we conducted our annual stoketake. Most of you managed to stay away, but a few of you snuck in to grab a bottle or two. It was a delight to see you and break up the monotony of bottle-counting. Normal service resumes at the shop from tomorrow (Saturday) – we will return to normal opening hours, which as a reminder are:

Tuesday – Friday 0900-1800hrs
Saturday – 0900-1700hrs
Sunday & Monday – closed

In our first edition of Sheldon’s Times in the year of 2022 we have a smashing DotW, the announcement of the the Sheldon’s Super Sale (yes – it is going ‘live’ tomorrow so don’t hang around), some fun facts from the stocktake and a marvellous car that dropped in at closing time on NYE. Oh, and as is befitting at this time of year, our Guest Beers are of course a pair from the growing collection of no/low alcohol offerings available in the market today. Jolly good it is too. On you go.

Dog of the Week
Our first Dog of the Week in 2022 is Copenhagen. But not just a single photo. We were lucky enough to have our first encounter with Copenhagen back in February 2021, nearly a year ago. There he is, as a young pup on the left. Just before the recent New Year festivities he dropped in for a second visit. He had just come from a wet and muddy walk so looks a little forlorn but isn’t it interesting how he holds his head in the same way? He remains as sweet as ever.
A big thank you to David and Charlotte for bringing Copenhagen into see us and allowing us to share in his growing up. Lovely.

Sheldon’s Super January Sale!
I have let Amanda loose in the shop, identifying wines that make potential candidates for a January Sale. To say she’s gone crazy is an understatement. 60 different lines make up the sale, some of which we have just one or two bottles, others we have plenty. All are discounted (which those who know me know that this goes against my better instincts) and the sale is offered to shop visitors only. This is not an online sale, nor a phone the shop sale. Sorry about that, especially to those that live a distance away, but our staffing levels mean we are focusing on the shop retail side. That means don’t ask us to send you the list, coz we won’t. Really, we won’t.
If this approach goes against my better instincts, why are we doing it? The sale allows us to achieve the following:
It allows us to make way for the arrival of a new vintage of an existing line
It helps us remove duplicates or common lines where we have too many of the same type (who needs 7 different Chiantis?)
The sale makes room for new wines in the shop
It gives us the opportunity to move damaged stock (labels, slight seepage etc)
Finally it allows us to offer up the last few bottles of certain lines (bin ends)
All of the above takes place at a price that is advantageous to you. There are bottles of fizz, whites, roses and reds in the wine category, port covers the fortified category and there are even a few bottles of spirits tucked away in a corner. Come in, have a browse and pick up some lovely wines at more than reasonable prices.

Guest Beers:
Drop Bear Yuzu Pale Ale (0.5%) £1.95/330ml can
Big Drop Paradiso Citra IPA (0.5%) £1.95/330ml can
Yes, you’ve guessed it. Throughout January we are going to shine a spotlight on low and no alcohol products, to help those of you (read: us) who are taking a break following an over-indulgent festive period. Amanda and I, with a surprise appearance from Esther on a Friday afternoon have been tucking into a couple of new guest beers.
The Drop Bear Yuzu Pale Ale has a great pale ale nose with a touch of toffee. The addition of a touch of Yuzu (a citrus fruit) gives the beer a pleasant lift. 3.5 stars out of 5 from the oh-so-professional tasting team.
Big Drop’s Paradiso has a full-on fruit nose of citrus and tropical fruits. It reminded me of Punk IPA from Brewdog (also available in a low-alcohol version but we don’t have it). on the palate the fruit flavours don’t quite follow through but it still a good beer for a low version. I prefer it more than Amanda, so the combined score for this one is 3 stars.
Bearing in mind any low alcohol beer we try is going to lose a point for the absence of alcohol at this early stage in our no-booze journey, both of these ales are rather good. I’ll definitely be taking one of each home for Trish to try…

Wines of 2021 – Bundled
In last week’s Sheldon’s Times, each of the team members offered up their favourite wines from 2021. These were not their best drinkers, but instead were wines they have particularly enjoyed showing to customers or that have made a valued addition to the range. After publication, one of our much loved customers responded almost immediately to say “why don’t you sell the Wines of 2021 as a package?” (thank you Scott!). So we have done almost exactly that…excluding Sheldon’s Champagne because we have sold out of 75cl bottles…replacing it with my next favourite fizz – Cremant du Jura.
Each package is priced at £80, representing a massive £0.84 saving over the individual bottle pricing. We are full of giveaways today, aren’t we? We have a few boxes made up so come in and pick up a package, take home and enjoy.

Stocktake – Key Facts
This week we have been busy counting the bottles in the shop. This process gives us a good baseline to start the year, it helps inform us regarding restocking and allows us to make decisions on whether to drop or replace some of the lines. It also allows us to identify which lines have been the stars over the last 12 months.
Yet again our best selling wine in the shop in 2021 was our very own Champagne – Edward Sheldon Brut. This wonderful product is made for us by H Blin in Vincelles, just west of Epernay. At over 2300 bottles sold in the last 12 months, up from 1600 last year, the result demonstrates that your thirst for this excellent Champagne remains unabated. Remember back in November I reported on our 2-pallet shipment having just arrived. I seriously thought we had ordered enough wine to see us through to Easter this year, but alas how wrong I was. We are out of bottles (as of this afternoon, a canny shopper called up) and down to the last few magnums. We have half bottles and jeroboams, but for how long I cannot say. We have already placed our order for a new shipment which will be with us shortly but note that the supply of formats other than standard 75cl bottles is severely restricted or non-existent.
Despite prices having risen on the last shipment, we promised to hold prices throughout 2021 which we did. The 2022 prices for Edward Sheldon Champagne are as follows:
Edward Sheldon Brut 37.5cl half bottle: £14.95
Edward Sheldon Brut 75cl bottle: £24.95
Edward Sheldon Brut 150cl magnum: £60.00
Edward Sheldon Brut 300cl jeroboam: £135.00
Edward Sheldon Rose 75cl bottle: £31.95

Here are some more fun facts from this week’s stocktake:

2021 Number of bottles sold (of all shapes and sizes): 25,735
(up from 22,817 last year)
In December alone we sold 7,370 bottles, with 681 of those being bottles of Sheldon’s Champagne.
Regarding stock accuracy we are -20 on bottle count, (last year was -21) so while not good news we are celebrating a 5% year-on-year improvement. By 2042 we should have nailed it.

Following hot on the heels of Edward Sheldon Champagne, the next best sellers were:

2nd: The combined sales of Nika Tiki and its replacement, Moloko Bay at £9.95
3rd: Le Salare Montepulciano d’Abruzzo at £10.95 (which pips last years 3rd placer)
4th: Trastullo Primitivo at £11.50 (relegated by one place)
In the annual rose sales competition there was a bit of an upset. The fact that we had a pretty rubbish summer weather-wise and I think people were upgrading their rose choices because they were mostly dining inside has resulted in a different outcome to last year.
First Place: Puech Haut, Languedoc (the one with the frosty bottle), 600 bottles sold
Second Place: Whispering Angel, Provence (the branded rose), 529 bottles sold
Third Place: Chateau de la Deidiere, Provence (affectionately known as “Deirdre”, our ‘house’ rose), 462 bottles soldLast year Deirdre thrashed the other two. It remains the most affordable of the three at just £12.95. Amanda has put some of the remaining bottles of Deirdre in the Sheldon’s Super Sale at an even lower price. Fill your boots.

Car’s the Star
Here’s the first motor of the new year. It pulled into the car park around 10 minutes before closing on New Year’s Eve. Great to see a car like this out and about on a winter’s day, a rare treat. It is of course a Caterham 7, one of my favourites for a track day. ‘Tis indeed a brave person who drives it on the public road, such is the temptation to tip your foot down and let the back end come out a little. A proper drifting car if you can judge things right, but my advice is save it for the track.
Many thanks to Chris for coming in to see us and facing the brisk weather of the day. A shame young Will couldn’t quite manage the cold breeze for the onward journey. Tut.
That’s it for tonight’s edition of Sheldon’s Times. I suspect we might see some of you tomorrow to peruse the saleroom. Doors open at 0900hrs, form an orderly queue. The current cold spell looks set in, so wrap up warm, light the home fires, pull the cork on a warming red and settle in. Amanda (“The Queen of the Sale”), Trish and I will be around tomorrow to service your every wine and other consumable beverage need, drop in and say hello.

Shane, Amanda, Jude, Esther, Nigel, Trish and Carol

Your Copenhagen-loving, Sale-anticipatory, Caterham-envious wine team at Sheldon’s Wine Cellars
Stay up to date

You will receive regular promotions and news. Unsubscribe with one click.