Raising a glass to king’s tipple

5:18pm Monday 7th January 2008

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SELLING wine that is literally fit for a king is the secret to success for one East Lancashire pub landlord.

Retired engineer turned wine merchant Walter Ainsworth, imports Spanish wine, hand-picked from exclusive Spanish vineyards.

And his favourite white wine, from a choice of hundreds he ships into the country, is the chosen tipple of the King of Spain himself.

King Juan Carlos is known for drinking Grand Cardinal from a small, family-run vineyard on Spain's south coast. Bound to be pricey you may think, but actually Walter who is the exclusive importer, is selling the royal choice at just £7.50 a bottle.

Walter got into the wine import industry after visiting friends in Spain after he took early retirement four years ago.

The 57-year-old, who has also recently taken over as landlord of the Boar's Head, Hoghton said: "It was the classic case of sitting with friends in Spain enjoying some fine wine and thinking why don't I go into the wine business?'. I had had enough of engineering and had very little to lose, and I have drunk a lot of wine in my time so I had a fair idea of what was good and what was not.

"The funny thing is I've come out of retirement and am working harder than before, but this time I'm really enjoying things.

"I love having the pub as I also serve the wine we import in our restaurant and it's great to have instant personal feedback from our customers on their favourites."

And Walter is currently celebrating a corker of accolades after four of the wines he imports recently won recognition from Decanter - the world's best-selling wine magazine.

When he first set up his online business Walter travelled the length and breadth of Spain to find the best privately run vineyards. Now he hand-picks his wine selection each month which he also has a hand in making.

He added: "I like the fact that I know where the wine has come from, I see it made, bottled and shipped and I know it is not interfered with from the vineyard until it reaches me and then the customer. The good thing for the customer here is that I don't need to put the same mark-up on bottles as supermarkets do, so you get a bottle that would be charged £15 in a supermarket for £10. But you can't get any of my wines in the supermarkets, they are exclusive to me.

"Generally the more you pay for a bottle of wine the better it is but I can keep the prices down as much as possible."

Walter now thinks he is in the best trade there is, living by the phrase a glass of wine a day keeps the doctor away' recommending one glass of red wine with an evening meal as "very good for your health" - and also good for business.

Walter's Spanish selection is available from www.letsopenabottle.com