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 When one of his forefathers founded Berry Bros, in 1698 on the James Street in London, he might not have been full of beans but certainly full of leaves-tea leaves. ‘When our company was founded we did not trade in wine and spirits but the most expensive drink on the planet-Chinese tea. It’s like a karmic cycle that today we are exporting the most expensive wines from Europe to China,’ he says with a smile. Simone Berry is the Chairman of one of the most ‘aristocratic’ and oldest wine merchandising firms of UK. He is full of beans-oops-berries. Talk of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries or any berries that wines have flavours of and he knows them all. He is also a Clerk of the Royal Cellar since January 2008.
Simon has been an avid appreciative subscriber of delWine for the last 7-8 years. I was surprised when my request for a meeting with him to interview him during my visit to London last week after I had finished judging at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Brussels was accepted almost instantly but I was truly flummoxed by the invitation for lunch following the meeting. I was given a polite warning by a friend Mark Walford though that Mr. Berry does not like to be asked questions about the Royal family.
I met Simon Berry in the Parlour, a small cozy room where important, private meetings are usually held. It is full of memorabilia- comfortable, period furniture with walls decorated with portraits and a cupboard displaying Kings Ginger liqueur bottles. I told him I’d understand if he did not wish to discuss details of the Royal wine drinking habits and the Cellar for which he was the guardian. He interjected immediately and said, ‘I’d love to tell you but I can’t! I am under obligation to be discreet and not discuss such details but whatever I can, I would gladly share with you.’
So I started with the usual question about what the assignment entailed and although it was honorary, did it entail any perks? Simon was appointed the Clerk of the Royal Cellars with effect from January 1, 2008. ‘I can tell you things there are done in an old fashioned way. It means that I have a committee of representatives, which includes companies holding Royal Warrants. Besides me there are three other wine merchants, some members of the Royal household and even Jancis Robinson MW. We choose wines that would be served at the Royal Cellar. Everyone thinks we drink Lafite at the Palace all the times. But most of the events are receptions for which many nice drinking wines are served. So the job is more like buying for the hotels.’
 ‘Other thing that I like to do is to choose the wines to be served at the State visits. They don’t come from the Royal Cellars but we choose them from the government cellar- by the way these are better wines than Queen’s Cellars. In that group the committee comprises of only-MWs-John Avery MW used to handle it for many years. It has wines worth a lot more today because the members ensured that the best of wines were bought at decent prices and so why not use them to entertain the foreign guests.’
Granting of Royal Warrant
BBR has been granted Royal Warrants since 1903 to supply wine and spirits to the Royal Household. Although it had been supplying wine and spirits earlier, the system for granting Royal Warrant was started in 1903. Soon after Queen Victoria’s death in 1901, her son H.M. Edward VII had bought himself a horseless carriage as they called cars those days and used to drive in the open. ‘His doctor came in this very room and told my grandfather that His Majesty was driving the car in the open. He wanted us to organize a warming cordial which he could drink as he drove to avoid cold and better make it strong to keep him warm! Thus was born a ginger liqueur with 41% alcohol! It is a spirit-based drink fortified with sweet gingery flavours and like all good liqueurs made earlier in Amsterdam, it was also made there. Initially, we did not sell it to outsiders but later started selling it as King’s Ginger. It became very popular and fashionable because of the king story.
‘Thanks to this liqueur, not only did Berry Bros. get the Royal Warrant, today it has become very popular in San Francisco as a cocktail ingredient and is gaining popularity very fast in Asia. Even the San Franciscan Chinese, who are fond of ginger have taken to it very well,’ he said. Perhaps, one day it might also become a popular cocktail drink in India where a majority of people love ginger, and not only in Shimla which he felt would be the most appropriate place in winters, I told him.
Traditional Cellar
 It’s really traditional, says Simon about the Royal Cellar. Sometimes we try to add more exciting and unusual things. But even guests attending do not expect the change by us when they come for lunch. For instance, one of the difficult things I had to do was to add English sparkling wines in place of Champagne. First time we did it was when President Obama came here. People didn’t expect it and finally they liked the idea but we were not sure if they would like it.
Ridgewood, Gusbourne and Nyetimber are a few of the British sparkling wines used in the banquets. Other tradition we have tried to get away from is serving champagne with pudding-an Edwardian tradition over a century old but not very common otherwise. We have been able to change some times to Sauternes but even that is considered too much.
Another detail Simon was willing to divulge was, ‘quite often we are asked when a head of state comes here if we can serve wines from that country. Almost always the answer is no because we tell them that this event is not a showcase for that country and we tend to err in the direction of safety. There have been complaints even as the Menus are printed in French though there is no Chef. This is also tradition from the Edwardian time.’ Simon was kind enough to bring me a copy of the Menu for the State Banquet held in honour of the then President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Patil on 27 October, 2009.
Promoting English Wines
While talking about promotion of English wines, he is quite an admirer of HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall who is also the President of The UK Winegrowers Association and an avid supporter of the English wine industry. ‘Her father Bruce Shand was a wine merchant known to my father. She grew up learning a lot about wine and as such takes active part in promotion of English wine. To another question about the drinking habits of the Royal Princes William and Harry, he excused himself from divulging any information except that she was a good influence on the Princes and that they share a very good relationship.
Storage and Provenance of wines
 One of the major strengths of BBR is the Provenance of wines stored with them. In layman’s language it simply defines the condition of storage of wines and the movements from the bottling in the winery to the bottle at the customer’s end. BBR is known to be extremely particular about perfect storage and even offers its services to store the wines for its clients by charging them annual rentals.
Simon says, ‘at last people are starting to comprehend and respect the importance of proper wine storage and are beginning to pay more for well stored wines,’ adding that unless France changed its policy – today you cannot store in Bond but have to pay the taxes and eventually if you drink in some other country, the tax has to be paid there again, people need to store wines in the cellars like BBR since it allows in-bond storage facilities. This means that the stocks may be transferred in-bond and duties and VAT may be paid at the time of de-bonding them for the final delivery.
Times they are a-changin’
I ask Simon, ‘you have an enviable and historic past. But with times changing fast how do you hope to stay competitive and how do you see your position?’ He is very categorical and confident as he says, ‘we change faster than anyone else. We were first in 1994 with our website bbr.com-even before Google. Just because we have been around for a long time, there is no written rule that we cannot change. We were at Heathrow Terminals3 and 4 when everyone thought we were crazy to do so. I firmly believe the only reason we are around after 315 years is because we have been constantly changing and adopting.’
He is quite proud of the BBX ( Berry Bros. Exchange) bbx which works like a stock exchange and allows anyone to buy or sell fine wines at a nominal commission to the company. ‘We are also one of the first ones to have a broking arm. It’s true that sometimes traditional and old established businesses are far too slow to pick up new trends. The new competition may have a good 5-6 years start as we sit and watch the new concept and say let’s see if it works or not.’
‘As part of the change we have been opening offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan and running them successfully. We opened our office in Hong Kong in 1999 and already have 15 years of experience in that market whereas Singapore was opened only last year. Singapore is interesting for us as it serves not only that market but also Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines etc too. Some would argue that Hong Kong is not the center of the market. Many traders came in Hong Kong and many would go away. But this is all a part of our strategy to stay on top in the market.’
Reflecting on their policy of change he says, ‘Even in the 1920s there used to be one out of ten pages in the catalogue where it said, ‘small parcels of wine are constantly passing through our hands. If you would like us to quit, please telegraph us. So we have been always doing things like that –only the medium changes.’
No Business like Family Business
 A strong supporter of family business which he entered after gaining considerable experience at the vineyards and wineries he moved his way up after joining in 1974 and became the Chairman only after three decades. ‘Family businesses are very good at understanding soul and DNA of the business. It is not articulated but the values are passed on to the next generation. We have to allow the new generation to come forward and be the agents of change. We also have outside professionals working and guiding us. They can well respond to our new ideas and say ‘are you crazy- you will go bankrupt’. This is a much more solid way of running the company. We look very traditional and yet we change and innovate constantly.’
 Old Charm
The company operates from the original location even today and the same building. It has been rebuilt since founding in 1698 when it had pre-existed but a lot of original structure remains. Upstairs where we had lunch with exquisite wines like Ch Angelus 1983, Ch Haut Brion 1982 and Graham’s Port 1952, commemorating Queen’s 60th coronation ceremony has been done in Victorian style. It is about English charm capitalized but with modern taste. Ask Simon about his favourite wine to drink, he’d simply say, ‘Who’s paying?’ I could not agree with him more. After the delicious, fresh and yet complex grower champagne Lancelot Grand Cru Blanc du Blanc 2009 in the Parlour earlier, each of the wines at lunch was delectable with the 3-course meal that left me wanting more! I wish I told him the interview was incomplete and one more visit would be helpful!
Subhash Arora
For an earlier related article published in January 2008, please visit
BBR owner takes charge of Royal Cellars
State Banquet Menu |