Help to "grow the 1%”: Support English and Welsh wines
ARTICLE
“It’s a really exciting time for UK wine. Just 20 years ago, ‘English wine’ meant unripe, acidic, and barely alcoholic grape juice. Yet now, our best wines are now being tasted alongside the great sparkling wines of Champagne and holding their own. …The UK is the most exciting cool climate wine country in the world. Yet 99% of the wines we drink in the UK are still imported.”
These are the remarks of Talya Roberson and Simon Huntington, co-founders of Marasby. Their mission – and they are hugely passionate about it – is “growing the 1%”. We should have high trust in their positivity on English and Welsh wines too. Before Marasby, Talya and Simon worked as leading UK importers of Californian wines, selling to leading supermarkets and Michelin Star restaurants, among others. They have stellar expertise. Yet they have changed direction now to be advocates of our national produce. Surely, there must be something in that! So, I think we should be listening to them and lending our support with that 1%.
Talya and Simon’s business, Marasby Market is launching in September 2023. Their website is already up and running at:
Marasby Market will connect lovers of UK wines directly to the very best English and Welsh winemakers. It will be an exciting platform to explore and discover the widest range of UK wines, but there will also be helpful content to support you in discovering new wines you’ll love. You will also be able to purchase them direct from the winemakers at cellar door prices, so there is an environmental angle too.
I was extremely fortunate to meet the lovely Talya this month to discuss her love of English and Welsh wines. I also created some dishes, which we paired with some of them. We used a delicious sparkling Raimes 2018 Vintage Rose and a 2021 Bacchus from the Lyme Bay Winery, both of which were nothing less than outstanding. I recollect the English wines of 20 years ago that Talya mentioned at the top of this article, and I was really suprised. If you would like to see the full interview with Talya where she tells us more about why English and Welsh wines are now so great, as well as seeing my dishes, the video is available on my YouTube channel. Please see:
So, what are Marasby’s values? Talya also comments on food miles and sustainability:
“…local means food and wine grown in the UK, as opposed to shipped over to us from, sometimes, thousands of miles away. On Marasby Market, it’s made very clear where grapes are grown and wines are made, and it is left to the users what they choose to explore and buy. If they want to buy wines from across the UK, that’s much better than the 99% of wines that are currently imported. If they want to focus on the vineyards that are nearest where they live, they can do that too, and they cut out a load of wasted distribution miles. ……Marasby asks all its suppliers to share their sustainability ethos and encourages them to adopt as a minimum the principles established under the Sustainable Wines of Great Britain Scheme. Some producers already go well beyond this. The Marasby website is hosted on a 100% carbon neutral server and aims to be 100% carbon free by 2030.”
Personally, I am effervescent with excitement to purchase through Marasby once fully launched in September. I recommend you look at their website now perhaps subscribing to their newsletter. Talya and Simon really are passionate and on a mission in support of English and Welsh wineries, the environment, and sustainable food. I think that’s highly commendable. Cheers Talya and Simon!
Lots of love,
Thuyx
Picture: Thuy with Talya Roberson
Thuy Hoang
MasterChef UK Quarter Finalist 2023
Subscribe to YouTube for cooking videos and more!
Copyright © 2023 Thuy Hoang