Sixty bottles chosen to go with the cheese, from £9 to £45, with a Welsh shelf and a recommendation for every wedge
The wine shelf
Sixty bottles on the back wall, chosen by Rhys to go with what is on the counter: a dozen under £12 for a Tuesday, a Welsh shelf with a sparkling from the Vale and two whites from Monmouthshire, sherry and port for the blues, cider and perry for the Caerphilly. Ask what goes with the cheese you have just bought and he will say.
The wine shelf exists because people kept asking what to drink with the cheese, and the honest answer was usually not what they had at home. Rhys chooses sixty bottles to go with what is on the counter, changes about a third of them each season, and will tell you the bottle for any wedge.
The shelf is arranged by what it goes with rather than by country: whites and sparkling for the goat's cheeses and the fresh ones; light reds for the hard cheeses and the charcuterie; big reds, sherry, port and the sweet wines for the blues and the washed rinds. A Welsh shelf: a sparkling from a vineyard in the Vale, two whites from Monmouthshire, a cider from Raglan, a perry. A dozen bottles under £12 that we would drink on a Tuesday ourselves. Sherry by the half bottle, because a fino with Manchego is the best cheap thrill in the shop.
Ten per cent off six bottles, mixed; a bottle chilled from the fridge by the door; a bottle opened for a lunch board at the table for a £5 corkage. The tasting evenings pair three wines with six cheeses and are the best way to find out what you like.
What you get
- Sixty bottles chosen to go with the counter
- Arranged by what it goes with, not by country
- A Welsh shelf: Vale sparkling, Monmouthshire whites, cider, perry
- A dozen under £12
- Ten per cent off six bottles, mixed
- A recommendation for every wedge, at the counter
What it costs
From £9 to £45 a bottle; a dozen under £12. Ten per cent off six bottles. The Welsh sparkling £32. The cheese page filters the counter by milk and strength; the hampers page builds a hamper with a running total.
Questions about the wine shelf
What goes with Stilton?
Port is the tradition and it works; a sweet Loire white or an oloroso sherry is better and cheaper. Ask Rhys and he will open something.
Can I drink a bottle at the tables?
Yes, with a lunch board, for £5 corkage on a bottle from the shelf.
A hamper built by you, packed on the day.
Choose the basket and what goes in it from the shelves; the total runs as you go and tells you how far you are from free delivery in the Vale over £75. Packed with wood wool and a handwritten card; posted anywhere in Britain for £9.95.