This year’s Royal Ascot event saw record-breaking wine sales with over 17,500 bottles of French and 14,000 bottles of Italian wine consumed over the five day event.
Photo credit: Nicole Hains
Catering to around 300,000 guests, total sales increased 16.4% by value on last year as well and, despite rain on the first two days, rosé sales volumes increased 15%, white wine sales by 7% and red wine by 13%.
Although dominated by French and Italian wines, the greatest increase in demand came for South African wines which saw demand rise 42% (in terms of bottles sold) from the 2018 event to 2019’s.
All the wines at the racecourse and its various restaurants are supplied by Hallgarten & Novum Wines.
In addition to public bars and private boxes (including the Royal Enclosure), wine was supplied to various restaurants run by Raymond Blanc OBE, Simon Rogan, Eric Lanlard, Ollie Dabbous and Philip Howard.
Jonathan Parker, director of Food and Beverage at Ascot Racecourse, said: “Royal Ascot week is always a step-up in terms of volume, as we supply wine to over 200 boxes, 100 bars and 20 restaurants at Royal Ascot 2019. To meet the demand from almost 300,000 guests, the Ascot Racecourse team have eight wine cellars at their disposal, with around 20,000 bottles in each at any one time.
“We have worked hard to ensure each wine list is perfectly tailored to the restaurant’s food offering and the wine available at the bars is of the highest standard, as a result, we have seen more and more racegoers choosing wine as their drink of choice.”
“I would like to thank Hallgarten Wines for the tireless work behind the scenes to support this fantastic event.”
Hallgarten national account manager, Howard Corrigan, commented: “This racing spectacle truly is one of the most prominent in the British racing calendar and we are delighted to play our part in ensuring it is a huge success for racegoers.
“This year we have seen demand from customers for all areas of our portfolio: Gérard Bertrand in Languedoc-Roussillon, Michele Chiarlo in Piedmont, Berton Vineyard in South Australia, Saint Clair in Marlborough and Swartland Winery in South Africa, were all highly sought-after, in all enclosures.”
