New world meets old terroir in wine takeover

A manager hosts a tasting at a Majestic Wine store.Manager: Evening, squire. Hope you'll enjoy our Majestic Nouveau. But where's the lady wife?Customer: (blushing) At home, posting reviews on the Naked Wines website.Manager: Don't fret, we've just taken them over. We're combining the terroir of Majestic's retail estate with the New World technology of Naked's online wine club. Tell me what you think of the product.Customer: (sniffing) Interesting bouquet. I'm getting that oaky, blokey fragrance of chaps in red trousers and Barbours buying Cotes du Rhone at a tenner a bottle. But there is something new, too.Manager: A zesty hint of crowd funding and fast growth?Customer: More a whiff of desperation. Didn't you have a profits warning in January?Manager: We're under pressure from discounters like Aldi. (Slurping) It's enough to drive an oenophile to drink.Customer: (Glugging) I'm intrigued to taste full-bodied business maturity combined with accents of South African entrepreneurship. Bit like sloshing a Margaux and a Western Cape Chardonnay together in a cocktail shaker.Manager: Well spotted. Naked Wines' Boksburg-born boss Rowan Gormley is the new chief executive of Majestic.Customer: I thought you said Majestic had taken over Naked? Are you sure it isn't the other way round?Manager: Mind if I spit? La Belle Jancis says conventional wine merchants "fear and loathe" Naked. But she describes Naked's social media strategy as "genius". Majestic doesn't even have a mobile app yet.Customer (Sipping) Is that a bitter aftertaste I'm detecting?Manager: That could be the post-announcement drop in shares that have fallen by a third since 2013. Overall, what's your verdict?Customer: New wine in an old bottle. Quaffable if disruption is your thing. But Naked looks pricey at up to £70m for a company with no earnings. I'll stick with Macon-Villages at fifty quid a case.

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